Alone Times
by zelos111
Summary: What if Katara and Sokka never reunited with Aang after he hid the map with the directions to their father on it? What if Aang had to go it alone to the North Pole? Follow Aang as well as Katara and Sokka as the muddle through Book 1, separated from each other.
1. The Betrayal

**Hey all, this was another idea that I just thought up of last night, I hope you enjoy it, tell me if you like the idea and if you want me to continue, if you don't like the idea, I probably won't expound on it.**

Ch. 1

"How could you Aang! I trust you and you betrayed us!"

At Sokka's barrage, Aang could say nothing, he was to blame for what was coming on him. He had lied to Sokka and Katara. He had the location to their father, but still hid it. _I'm so stupid and selfish! _ Aang kept telling himself as Sokka's unrelenting attack continued.

"You know what, we are done. Come on Katara, we are going to find Dad. The Avatar can handle this journey on his own." Sokka finished with disgusted look on his face.

Aang's world literally shatter at these words.. _No. They can't be leaving me! I need them! I need her! _But to Aang's dismay, when he looked up in Katara's eyes, he saw betrayal and deep sadness. It looked to Aang as they she was sad for even trusting him at this point.

But Katara's face did not show her emotions as well as Aang had thought. Katara had been struggling in her mind about what she should do; she was torn between staying with her closest friend, or going with her brother. _It's a lose lose for me. If I go with Sokka, a lose Aang, but if I go with Aang, I might not ever see Dad or Sokka again. But Aang did lie to us… _With a wary sigh, she spoke the heart shattering words: "I'm coming Sokka."

With one final look, Katara and Sokka walked with Bato back to the small perfume village to pack their things.

Aang was literally heartbroken as he slowly followed the trio, at a respectful distance. _I have to be strong._ Aang kept telling himself. With another deep breath, Aang began to unpack Katara's and Sokka's remaining things from Appa, folding everything nicely into traveling pouches. When he had finished the task of putting everything together into manageable sized carrying packs, he found that Katara and Sokka were waiting for him. He soon jumped off of Appa, packs in hand. Sokka quickly took his pack and Katara did the same, barely sparing a glance at Aang, further destroying his dwindling spirit.

He still felt a need to protect his friends, so along with those packs; Aang included most of the food and a secret letter that was written for Katara to read. He figured that she would find it after he was long gone, and that was fine with him.

For one last time, Aang faced his two closest friends. "Be safe Aang" Katara said with much emotion, but to Aang's dismay, she would not look him in the eye. He felt betrayed, just like he betrayed them when he hid the map from them. The big difference between the betrayals was that theirs was completely justified. He had sunken low and for that he paid the price.

Aang turned to Sokka, looking him one more time in the eyes; Sokka would not let one word of goodbye leave his lips, not one word of protection. To Sokka, Aang was nothing, he had broken his trust and for that, he no longer cared. He was no longer a friend, but just the Avatar to him.

Aang watched for a long time as the trio left the village the village down a straight long road. He knew that it would most likely be the last time that he would see them for a long time, maybe even ever, he was so mad and he was the only one to blame.

He began to think of his past with Katara and Sokka. He began to remember waking up to 100 years of war and suffering that was his entire fault. He remembered how Katara had been there to comfort him when he had no one left, when he found Gyotso's skeleton, and when he was alone or hurting. Now, for the first time he had awoken, realized he had no one left.

Though Aang felt this way, Appa staunchly disagreed with a low grumble, immediately reading his emotions like a book.

"Thanks Appa, I know you are still there for me, even when I feel alone or hurting." Aang finished with an affectionate pet to the bison's nose.

Soon after he had stopped watching them go, the nuns in the village began to coax him to leave as well because they felt as though it was dangerous for him to stay in the village for too long. "I know, I know, I'm leaving."

Just as he was about to take off, a large animal with 3 riders on top barged through the entrance of the small village.

"I've finally found you Avatar." Zuko said with pure rage.

"You really got to stop following me around everywhere Zuko." Aang said with a growing frown.

"Your girlfriend isn't here Zuko, Nila has picked up her sent, it's this way." June stated.

"I don't care about the girl." Zuko began as he jumped off of the beast: "I was only interested in the boy."

"So she cheated on you then?" June pressed.

"NO!" Zuko shouted, taking his eyes off of Aang for a split second, a second that Aang used to his advantage. He began to shoot large blasts of air at Zuko and the beast, attempting to knock them off their feet so he might escape. This proved to be in vain as Zuko was not going to be swayed by the Avatar as easily as the last time.

Zuko came at Aang with all the ferocity he could muster and Aang did the same. Fire and Air collided in the center of the town square, knocking the combatants onto opposite roofs.

While Zuko and Aang where fighting, so was Appa and Nila. Nila continued to attempt to strike Appa with its paralyzing tong, but Appa's instincts told him to stay clear of it and he had done a good job doing so. Eventually, Appa had gained the upper hand, head butting the creature in the head, knocking it out cold. He might of finished off the beast, but the rider continued to attempt to whip Appa into submission. Though she quickly fell to the beast's power as well.

Aang noticed that Appa had made quick work of the two attackers that he was being faced with, which gave Aang more confidence. As Aang and Zuko began to move into closer combat, Aang noticed something hooked to Zuko's wrist. _That's Katara's necklace! _Aang thought.

"You have something I want" Aang firmly stated. He began to attack Zuko with lighter attacks that were only aimed as a distraction. Aang began to grow frustrated with Zuko's evasive actions; he only had one thing in mind, Katara's necklace.

He did not have to fight longer as he finally was able to grab hold of the necklace, but not before falling into the well that they had fought next to first.

Zuko thought fast, bending a jet of flame into the enclosed area. Zuko thought that he had finally beaten the Avatar, but just as he let his guard down, he was blown back by a column of water. Soon, for Zuko, everything went black.

Aang quickly got up out of the well, only minor burns and singes marked him. He quickly made his way over to Appa and climb on his head. With a quick flick of the reigns and "Yip, Yip Appa!" He was off in the sky. Unfortunately for Aang, Zuko had awoken.

**Katara and Sokka:**

The trio trudged along the now winding path in the forest, in the direction of Sokka's and Katara's father. It was quickly discussed between the three that the journey should not take more than a week or two and that it should be a farely safe one, out of any Fire Nation lands in the Earth Kingdom.

Though Katara's outward appearance was monotone, her mind was a fierce and turbulent storm of emotions. Her mind was of course completely revolving around Aang at the moment. Aang was very immature, he always seemed to be getting into dangerous situations, and he needed friends. _I can't believe I left him behind! Without even looking at him! _

As Katara was fighting with her emotions, Bato noticed this apparent turmoil and focused his conversation on Sokka.

"Sokka, you know you cannot be mad at Aang forever…" Bato began, but was swiftly cut off.

"I can be mad at him for as long as I want Bato! He betrayed all of us, he withheld information from us!" Sokka ranted.

Bato just sighed, recognizing that this conversation was not going to be an easy one: "Sokka, we all make mistakes, bad choices are a part of growing up. He was scared of losing you, but he was also fighting with the guilt of what he did. He chose to be honest with you in the end, no matter the consequences of his actions, he could not live with himself if he never told you. Am I mad at the Avatar for what he did, yes, but I realized why he with-held the map from you and Katara. He needed you."

"Yah well, he doesn't need us anymore, he can go it alone for all I care." Sokka almost yelled.

"How could you say that Sokka!" Katara blurted out: "He made a mistake, sure, but he also regretted his actions and wanted to try and make it better!"

Sokka was clearly getting more and angrier by the minute: "So you're taking his side now?"

"I'm not taking anyone's side Sokka!"

"Well it sure looks to me like you are!"

"Enough!" Bato began: "It does not matter any longer, the Avatar is likely long gone by now!"

"You're right Bato" Sokka said: "Sorry sis."

After Sokka's apology, a lone wolf was heard in the distance, howling. "What do you think happened to it." Sokka asked.

Bato look down: "It's probably hurt and left behind by the pack. I know that feeling all too well. When I was injured in the Fire Nation attack, I was left by the other Water Tribe warriors. I was separated from the ones I loved, the ones I felt a connection to. It was one of the worst experiences I have ever gone through. The injuries are less painful than the separation is."

Sokka looked down, a moment of dawning appeared across his face: "We have to go back. Aang's our family too now and he needs us just as much as we need him."

"Your father would be proud of you." Bato began.

Before he could finish, they saw something in the distance, their faces filled with horror.

**Aang:**

"Uncle, I need your help!" Screamed Zuko as he watched the quickly retreating prize and the bison.

"What is it Prince Zuko?"

"We need to shoot the bison down!"

Iroh nodded his head and took aim with his nephew. The collective burst of flame could be seen for miles around; many more were to come as well.

Aang had his work cut out for him as he began to attempt to evade the barrages of fiery balls coming his way. Though Aang had done a pretty good job at defending himself and his bison, one shot did graze Appa's fur and Aang had to struggle with all his strength to keep himself and his bison in the air.

Though it was hard at first, he soon leveled out, and put as much distance as he could away from Zuko.

**Katara and Sokka:**

"Look!" Katara screamed as she watched flaming balls barrage Appa from afar. Aang seemed to be doing a good job dodging the attacks, but she still regretted her decision to leave him behind, he needed her now and she knew it. Her heart fell to her stomach when Appa was violently hit and began to fall. She sucked in a sharp breath until Aang miraculously straightened them out and began to fly far away from the still oncoming attacks.

"Thank the Spirits he got away…" Katara began.

"It was Zuko, it had to be…" Sokka said while looking at the ground in shame: "At least he got away."

"We need to go after him Sokka." Katara said with much determination in her voice.

"I know little sis, I know." Sokka said with a small smile.

"Well, we can still travel to your father, he will be able to help you up north, I think he would like to see his sister tribe anyway." Bato interjected.

Katara looked saddened at this; she knew instantly that she would not see Aang for probably many months if not more. She was afraid to think of all the danger he could get into in all the months leading up to the North Pole. She still held hope though, that she would see him again and she would get to say how sorry she was for leaving him. She said it over and over in her mind: _I'll bring him into a fierce hug and tell him that he is never leaving my sight again. _

She smiled at this, the first smile that she had since Aang had temporarily left her life.

**Aang:**

"I guess it's just you and my buddy" Aang said, but he soon corrected himself when he noticed the small lemur that crawled up onto his lap: "And you too Momo."

Aang smiled: "I guess it's time for me to be the Avatar, I guess I just never expected that I would have to do it alone." Aang looked down, but only momentarily. He noticed in his hand, a small pendant that was Katara's, he needed to head north to the Northern Water Tribe. He knew that with a bit of luck, Sokka and Katara would find their Dad and they would go up to the pole together. If he ever got the opportunity to see them again, he would beg for their forgiveness. He realized how much he truly needed them and how much he missed them already.

But Aang did not let his sadness over take him, he looked out to the now setting sun with hope to the future, with a hope that he would see Katara again.

**I know, not an overly large chapter to base a whole story off of, but I thought of this and wrote this in like 25 minutes or so. Once again, read and review! **


	2. Discoveries And Regrets

**Hey guys, I know I haven't updated this in a few days, I feel really really bad about it. I have been focusing so much on my other two stories: General Aang and Changing Waters, that I haven't really thought too much about this one, thus I have been in a little creative slump on what to do. So sorry about that. I am really excited about all the reviews I've gotten for this story. I honestly didn't think it was going to be taken well, but here you guys are, proving me wrong. I know this chapter really isn't long, but I'm really trying.**

**Wanted to give a shout out to:**

**70oda, CharlieFibrosis, Pie, and the two wonderful guests who have review this story so far, you guys have inspired me to crank out another chapter. So thanks for it and keep he reviews coming. I also wanted to say that, yes, by some miracle, I did actually outline and type up the 2500 word previous chapter in 30 minutes. I know, call me a liar, but hey its true!**

**Onto the Chapter!**

Ch. 2

**Katara and Sokka:**

The miles seemed to blur as the trio walked along the straight path towards Ba Sing Se. Everyone was tired, but they knew that they had to continue, if not because the sheer desire to reach the Southern Water Tribe warriors, then the fierce determination that Katara displayed in her desire to reach Aang.

At this point, Sokka had observed that Katara's emotional state had been on a continuous downward spiral since their separation with Aang. He understood that Aang had become an integral part of their lives; he just couldn't grasp her attachment to the young Avatar.

At moments, she seemed extremely focused towards their destination, while at other times; she looked like she hated the world and everyone in it. It finally dawned on him that Katara might actually have grown attached to Aang throughout their little journey. But something confused Sokka and he continued to mull over it in his mind: _When did this happen to Katara. I know that Aang was the first boy she met around her age.. But come on! He's just a goofy kid. _

As the trio continued to walk along the path, he began to examine parts of their little adventure together. At the end of his little escapade, he realized a few things. _Katara had watched over Aang and protected him so fiercely. She always enjoyed being around him and never left his side. She gave him hugs and small kisses, held his hand.. Oh God! _Than Sokkablurted out something that he knew that he would regret: "Did you like Aang Katara?"

She immediately stopped walking and stiffened.

By this time, Sokka was beginning to immediately regret what he said to his sister.

"What did you say?" Katara asked while still not turning towards him.

Somehow, someway, Sokka had regained his courage and asked again: "I said did you like Aang?"

When he repeated the question, she began to shake ever so slightly, and then she turned to him. With tears streaming down her face, Sokka knew the answer to his question. Before he could say anything further, Katara took off running into the woods.

"Katara!" Sokka yelled as he began to follow her, but he was swiftly stopped by Bato.

"She needs this time alone Sokka" He said calmly but firmly.

**Katara:**

Katara ran through the woods, she could barely breathe, barely think. She did hear her brother calling for her at one point, but that faded into the night.

When she was too tired to run any further, she collapsed down onto the ground of a clearing and just cried.

"How could I leave him?" Katara almost screamed into the night.

She knew that she had been denying all day that she had been attached to Aang, more than just friends or family, but she could not understand the complex spread of emotions that she was feeling towards him. In these times, she wished she could talk to her mother. She missed her so much and needed her guidance, but life was cruel and took her away from Katara.

She knew that she had to face these feelings alone. But the acceptance didn't make it easy. She long ago realized that Aang had rejuvenated her life, changing her from a workaholic to a normal kid… Somewhat. But she didn't understand were her feelings changed for him, or at least where she thought they changed for him. _It must have been once we left him, once I knew he would be absent from my life. _

Love was a strong word to use to define her attachment to Aang, but she knew regardless that she had a strong bond with Aang, that she needed him and that was enough for now.

She once again, silently cursed herself for not staying with Aang: w_hy didn't I stay?_

The question was quickly answered though: "Because he lied to me" Katara said aloud.

Aang was the person that had always been honest with her but now he lied. _Sure, his reasoning was in the right place but he should have known that we would have stayed together regardless._

Something dawned on Katara, something that she should have a long time ago: with her knew realization, she ran back to camp. She was guiltier than she had ever been.

**Sokka:**

Sokka gave into Bato and they began to set up camp for the night. When camp was finished, Bato started on dinner, suspecting that Katara might come back sometime soon. "I suspected that she had grown attached to the boy by her subconscious body language that she displayed towards him."

Sokka just looked confused, so Bato continued: "She was always close to him; he had a disarming effect on her. She even subconsciously snuggled against the young Avatar as he slept."

"Ah, mental pictures! Don't do that to me!" Sokka said while he rubbed his eyes in a vain effort to rid his mind of the pictures that were burned there.

"It was innocent in nature Sokka, you need not be worried. Besides, the young Avatar seemed like a nice boy. Your father would not object and neither will I."

Sokka looked down at his feet: "I know he's a good guy, he's like a brother to me. It's just I never imagined that they could have feelings for each other, maybe I've been just too blind to see it."

Bato gave a harty laugh: "Clueless would be a better word Sokka."

Sokka smirked at Bato's small poke at humer: "Not helping."

It was then, that Katara returned to camp, with tears still streaming down her face.

Sokka schooled his features: "This can't be good."

**Aang:**

He had flown most of the day, looking over his 100 year old map for any safe place he could possibly land. When he found no other options, he decided on a clearing with what appeared to be a small creak next to it. "I guess this'll be a pretty safe place to land buddy." Aang said to Appa.

Appa grumbled in a lower tone than usual, clearly still fatigued from the quick exit that they had to make back at the village, as well as the injury that he had sustained due to it. "Let me take a look at that" Aang said as he airbended the saddle off of Appa and began to examine the burn mark across his side. To Aang's relief, it looked like it was only a mild burn that would heal within a few days, as long as the rested enough. "Looks like we're staying around here for the next few days until you can heal up body."

Appa was more than happy at his master's suggestion, happily turning and licking him, than flopping down to rest for the night.

Aang laughed at his bison's display and was happy that he had decided to let him rest. He knew that his bison had been working hard these past few months, and Aang was thankful for it.

As his bison rested, Aang decided to make up camp and get some dinner ready for himself and Appa. He knew how to cook, because he was taught at such a young age. He still enjoyed and missed Katara's cooking more though. She was always kind enough to make him a vegetarian dish, while also making Sokka something with meat. He noticed over time that Katara was growing fonder of his vegetarian diet though, over the past few weeks, he hadn't even seen her touch a piece of meat.

He was happy that he had that kind of effect on her, and that she actually embraced his culture as well. _I really miss Katara. _Aang thought, but he quickly shook his head to get the quickly descending sadness out of his thought process.

When he finished eating his dinner, he took out his map. He determined that there was a small village not too far from where he was camping. "I can get some supplies that I need there." Aang said aloud, knowing full well that he had given most of the money and supplies to Katara. He knew that she wouldn't take it from him willingly, so he hid it in the bottom of her bag with the note.

Aang's thoughts once again strayed towards a certain waterbender before he went to bed. He held her necklace up, wishing he could give it back to her. He was also guilty for being happy that he had something to remember her by, though he doubted he actually needed something to do so.

He reflected once again on his actions the previous days. He was sad and mad at himself for allowing himself to stoop so low to try and vainly keep someone with him. _Why couldn't I just let them make the decision for themselves? Why did I have to seal my fate and take matters into my own hands? _Aang angrily thought.

He knew he could not be mad at Katara and Sokka for their choice, because he knew it was the right one to make, he had been selfish and he had to pay for his actions. _The monks where right, I shouldn't have strayed from their teachings. Love is just another earthly attachment._

Aang brooded over this as he fell into what he thought was going to be a horrible night of sleep, but oh was he wrong.

**Sokka and Katara:**

Katara looked a mess, and Sokka knew it. "Katara, what's wrong?"

Katara began to break down, a part of her cracking with every tear that fell down her face: "He left because of us Sokka, it's all our fault!"

Sokka just looked confused while a look of dawning formed on Bato's face: "What do you mean Katara? Aang left because he lied to us." Sokka began. But before he could continue, Katara frantically denied him.

"No, think about it Sokka, the night when we first found Bato, we made it sound like we were going to go with Bato to find dad." Katara said.

Sokka flat out denied it, but before he could say anything else, Bato spoke: "Sokka, I think Katara is right. When I offered to bring you to your father, both of you agreed with me almost immediately."

"Not to say that the boy was justified in what he did, I just think that you are both at fault for this, Aang was at fault for lying but you were at fault for not taking Aang into consideration before you blurted out that you were coming along."

"But I said that we needed to help Aang to the North Pole first!" Sokka added frantically.

"Sokka, Aang had already left by that time, he didn't hear that" Katara pointed out.

"I guess your right then." Sokka said, a little defeated.

"I think you needed this, both of you. You needed to understand both sides of the situation. You needed to let your anger and your sadness out before you moved on. Now you can focus on finding your father, and then on reuniting with Aang." Bato finished.

"I think we need him as much as he needs us." Katara said in a low voice.

Everyone around the fire agreed with her.

"Hey Sokka, could you help me unpack my things?" Katara asked because she was exhausted from all of the crying.

"Sure thing sis" Sokka said.

As they unpacked all of her supplies, they noticed another large bag dropping out of her bed roll. Curious to what it was, Katara untied the bag and almost gasped at what she saw. "It's all of our supplies… The maps, the food, the money…" Katara said.

"Aang must have hid it in your pack, thinking that you wouldn't double check it until he was long gone." Sokka added with a faint smile.

"Even when we left him, he still took care of us before he took care of himself." Katara said.

"This only makes me worry about him more now though." Sokka said while looking through the supplies.

Just when they had finished organizing everything, Sokka noticed a small note. "Hey, what's this?" Sokka asked as he looked at the folded up piece of paper, along the front said Katara.

"That's Aang's hand writing!" Katara said in excitement as you quickly grabbed the paper from Sokka and quickly unfolded it to read the contents.

She looked down and read aloud, for her brother's benefit:

I know you can use these supplies and money more than I could, I knew you wouldn't take it willingly, so I decided to hide it in your bag so you couldn't fight me on it. On a more serious note, I am sorry that I betrayed your trust by hiding the map to your father; I had no right to interfere with your lives like that. You hadn't seen your dad in years, and I was selfish into making myself believe that I was somehow more important. I wish you the best in finding your dad, you and Sokka were the closest thing to a family that I have had, you gave me hope, love, and support and I threw it back in your face with my lye. I know you might never forgive me, and that's ok. I want to say I'm sorry, I deserved to lose the right to be called your family. I will end this war for you and Sokka so that your real family might be able to live in a world that is free from war. I wish you luck for your future.

Sincerely,

Aang

When she finished the letter, Katara had already begun to cry again, sad that Aang would think he no longer deserved them, but also at the realization that his purpose for ending the war was only so that Katara and Sokka could be happy.

"Aang really is selfless" Sokka thought aloud.

"Yes. Yes he is."

**Idk when the next chapter will be up for this, I should be able to crank one out over the weekend hopefully. But I will have chapters up for my other stories soon if you're interested. Thanks for all the support!**


	3. New Directions

**Hey all! I'm back again! I know I just posted a chapter, but I thought I would post another because of all the love that I've gotten from this story. (Hope you don't mind.)**

**A big shout out to all of the readers, favorite's, followers, and reviewers. You guys are the reason I post so quickly, so keep it up!**

**Tell me what you think, read and review guys! Shout out goes to FlameoInsantNoodles, TunaLuna, BeatlesKataang, Marcos96, and 70zoda. Keep up those favorites and reviews guys!**

**P.S. Check out my other stories as well. Also, I wanted to have your guys opinion on something guys: P.M. me if you have any ideas that you would want me to add into this story, I have some, but would love more. I'll feature you guys in the chapters you help me with so send me a P.M. with those ideas. Love you all! Now, onto the next chapter!**

**Sokka and Katara:**

Though no one really slept well the previous night, everyone silently accepted that they would need to travel fast if they were to make it to the Southern Water Tribe fleet before they needed to move again. This obviously took a toll on both Sokka and Katara since they were not used to walking long distances, since they normally just traveled on Appa most of the time. Bato didn't think much of it though, he knew that they would eventually get used to it, since this trip would likely take weeks to accomplish.

When Sokka decided to take a short break from the large amount of walking, he took out the map that Hakoda had given to him. Bato had thought that the location had been somewhere close to the serpents pass, due to the large dot that Hakoda had placed for his location. Sokka soon dismissed this idea because he saw no strategic point in the Serpant's Path. He did notice that there was a smaller river that led straight to Ba Sing Se.

If Sokka knew his father well enough, he figured that this would be the place he would defend. "He is probably camping out here guys." Sokka began while pointing at the map. Both Katara and Bato looked over his shoulder as he continued: "This river is deep enough to allow larger ships to sail straight to Ba Sing Se."

"It was likely used as a trading route" Bato surmised.

"Most likely." Sokka began: "I think we should start their and move our way through the Bay. Sound good?"

"Yah, maybe Aang will take the same route as us…" Katara said hopefully.

Sadly, Sokka was clueless: "Unlikely, realistically, he's probably going to make his way up the coast of the earth kingdom. When he runs out of land, he'll probably be stupid enough to head through the Fire Nation after that." Before Sokka could continue, he was strongly nudged by Bato. "Hey" Sokka began, but he was quickly cut off by a piercing stare that Bato was giving him. Bato than motioned towards something behind Sokka, which he figured was Katara. As he turned, he soon realized his mistake.

Katara was lost in her thoughts: _Oh. Spirits no. Don't let him go into the Fire Nation alone. Please let him go towards Ba Sing Se, where we can meet up with him. So I can say how sorry that I am, so I can prove that he's still my family._

Before Katara could fall any deeper into her own regrets and despair, Sokka quickly called to her, in the most sympathetic voice she had ever heard from him: "Hey, you ok?"

Katara didn't know why, but in that instance, she was furious at him, and being the person she was, she wore her emotions on her sleeve: "No I'm not Sokka! Aang's out there by himself, he could be going into the Fire Nation for all we know!"

"Katara, we can't help him this way, we know that he'll be heading up north. So stop sulking and worrying about him. We are trying to reach dad. Start focusing on that and stop worrying so much about him!" Sokka didn't care that he was getting mad for no reason, he needed to vent just as much as she did.

He half expected Katara to tear his head off, but she immediately looked down, but just for a split second. When she looked back up, he didn't see the usual spirit in her eyes, that fire was gone and replaced with an emotionless façade. Needless to say, he regretted his words already.

"Katara, I'm." Sokka began, but he was immediately interrupted by her: "You're right Sokka, I can't worry about him right now, and we have more important things to focus on right now, like getting to dad."

When Sokka was going to press her further, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Just let her be for now Sokka, she's going through separation anxiety right now. This is just her way of getting through it."

Sokka sadly agreed, and so the trio continued their walk in silence, knowing their destination. What Sokka and Bato didn't know, was that Katara's emotionless façade was only skin deep. _I have to find him. Before he gets to the Fire Nation._

**Aang:**

Through the night, Aang had been restlessly sleeping, waking up often due to the nightmares that he had been experiencing. Many of them had been the same, he lost his friends and ended up alone, he didn't want this, he didn't want to be alone anymore. _I need to meditate for a while. _Aang thought. He knew it would do him little good to attempt to sleep, so he found a secluded spot and sat in a comfortable lotus position. Even being like this relaxed him, but only slightly. He mused that this was due to the closeness that it brought him to his people. Though they were gone, their memory still lived on in him.

As Aang cleared his mind, he began to feel as though his spirit was being lifted from himself, like he was floating in mid-air, but without the airbending. He was swiftly snapped out of his peaceful state by another voice: "Hello Aang."

He swiftly moved to his feet, reflexively getting into his airbending stance. Though this quickly didn't last, he immediately dropped the stance once he noticed who it was: "Roku? What are you doing here?"

It was then that he finally looked around: "Am I in the spirit world Roku?"

"Yes Aang, I brought you here for a reason. We need to talk." Roku began.

"About what Roku, has something happened?" Aang fearfully asked, expecting the worst.

Roku chuckled at Aang's sudden seriousness: "No, nothing of that kind."

Aang visibly relaxed: "Than what did you want to talk about?"

"Love Aang, I wanted to talk to you about love."

"Love is dangerous, it will only end badly. That's why the monks told us to stay clear from it. Look at me." Aang began, now angry at both Roku and himself: "I'm alone and I lost the only family that I had left. I loved them, and because of my stupidity, they're gone!"

Roku thought for a few moments before he spoke: "Sometimes, love is a funny thing, you think that it isn't worth it when the person is gone from your life, but when fate brings you back together; love begins to take on a new form, a form which you couldn't have imagined ever living without."

Aang looked up at Roku: "But what happens when you know that you'll probably never see the person ever again?"

Roku smiled: "You never give up hope. I was separated from the love of my life for nearly a decade. But love persevered and I married her soon after I returned. Our love only grew in the separation, but it took being separated for us to realize how important we were to each other."

Aang smiled, fresh tears forming in his eyes at the honesty in his past life's words: "I won't give up Roku."

"Very good, work your way to the North Pole, find a master, and begin your training." Roku said as he began to fade into the night.

Aang fell asleep that night with a small smile on his face.

The next morning, he woke up with his vigor renewed. He took out his map again, after feeding Appa, Momo, and himself. He began to look it over; he knew that he was only a few days walk from where he had previously been, he didn't want to move further inland, afraid that he could attract Fire Nation soldiers towards the path that Katara, Sokka, and Bato were heading through. They might no longer care for him, but he would still risk his own safety for theirs. He decided that it would likely be best to travel around the coast, heading straight North. He knew that once he reached the central part of the Earth Kingdom, he would have to head towards Fire Nation occupied lands. He figured that if he stayed in already conquered enemy territory, he would not be as actively looked for there.

While thinking up the best route to take, he noticed a small town that was further inland. He knew that it was risky, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to recoup some of his supplies since he had given most, if not all of them to Katara and Sokka. He knew that even though they were mad at him, they were probably still worried about him having no supplies or money to survive on, but he didn't linger on that thought.

After he had finished cleaning up the small camp site, he hid Appa and Momo. "Sorry guys, stay hidden, I'm gonna go check out this town and see if I can grab some supplies for the trip. Appa gave a low grumbling in acknowledgement while Momo just chattered incoherently. Ok guys, Appa is in charge, Momo, stay out of trouble. He knew that they couldn't understand him, but he still felt that it helped to pretend that they did.

The trip to the town was relatively leisurely; he made sure that he dressed in a black cloak and a matching headband before he left for the town. He didn't want to be found out, especially when the Fire Nation could be so close. He just wanted to get the supplies and be on his way.

As he made his way into the town's gate entrance, he immediately knew that the town was very old and run down. It looked as though it had been neglected for years, the gates appearing to fall apart with the slightest touch. The people in the town looked just as neglected as the buildings. This was definitely an earth kingdom town, but sadly, it wasn't as vibrant as some of the other that he had visited with his friends. Aang made his way to the town square, where he hoped to find a few shops to buy a few supplies to hold him over until he made it to a bigger city. He picked up a small bag of rice and a few fruits and vegetables. When the shop keeper just took the money, not bothering to count it or even look at him, Aang spoke up: "What happened here? Why does everyone look so impoverished?"

The man finally spared Aang a glance. Aang immediately regretted this, as the man noticed his arrow beneath the cloak. "You're the Avatar, aren't you." It was a statement, more than a question. Aang slightly nodded in agreement, knowing that it was useless to argue his identity.

The shopkeeper immediately put a closed sign up and dragged Aang through a doorway and into what appeared to be his house. The mysterious man motioned for Aang to take a seat, which he immediately obliged, seeing little choice.

The man quickly returned from what appeared to be his kitchen, holding to small cups of tea. "Hello Avatar, the name's Lo. I'm sorry I didn't tell you it before. It just isn't safe to talk in public these days. They might hear you."

Aang looked genuinely confused: "Nice to meet you Lo, my name is Aang. But why can't you talk in public? Who might hear you?"

Lo's appearance dropped: "The Fire Nation. Who else?"

"Wait, the Fire Nation is in this village? But where? I haven't seen any soldiers." Aang replied.

"They patrol every so often, taking what they want and draining this village dry. They've been here for years." Lo said while taking another sip of his tea.

"Why hasn't anyone fought back?" Aang honestly asked.

"We did a few times when they first came, but they punished us worse each time. They called this an occupation, so we were under Fire Nation law, which means anything treasonous is met with death. We lost about half the village two seasons ago. Many of the women of this village lost their husbands who fought in an uprising against them. We've lost our hope, at least I did until you came. You can fix this, you're the Avatar." Lo finished hopefully.

Aang fidgeted nervously in his chair, sure he was a master airbender, but he barely knew any water bending, maybe he could face them all once he was a fully realized Avatar, but until then, he had to make his way to the North Pole. "Um.. Well, I don't-" But he was swiftly cut off when commotion was heard from just outside Lo's shop.

Lo quickly got up off his chair and made his way towards the door. Aang quickly followed him, putting both his headband and his cloak back on to hide his identity. He didn't want the WHOLE town to know who he was.

As they both made it to the door, Lo only opened it a cracked, giving Aang plenty of space to watch the events outside unfold. Lo stepped back, seeing what was about to happen enough.

A Fire Nation soldier was standing above an elderly man in a threatening manner. "You didn't pay your taxes this week earth kingdom pig!" the Fire Nation soldier spat. He looked to be about 35, he had jet black hair and a goatee to match.

The older man appeared to be frail and weak, sprawled out on the ground in a stance of submission. "I already paid the taxes to another soldier this week, I am sorry, I don't have anymore!" The older man pleaded.

"Don't lie to me! You will give the money up or pay the consequences!" The soldier yelled, setting his hands ablaze.

Aang had just about seen enough, he stepped out of the house and walked towards the Fire Nation soldier. "How much does this man owe you?" Aang asked calmly.

The Fire Nation soldier whirled around and regarded the mysterious man with a questioning look: "What's it to yah?"

"I wish to pay his tax, than you have to leave him alone." Aang replied.

"He owes us 5 copper pieces" The soldier said, still in an offensive stance.

Aang simply took the remainder of his money and handed it to the soldier who eyed it for a second and turned to the older man. "You're lucky this time, but next week, no one will save you." He finished by kicking him hard in the back, causing the frail man to spasm in pain.

The soldier turned and left, laughing at the older man's misfortune.

After the man had left, Aang quickly motioned for Lo to help him lift the older man into his shop.

As low treated the injured man, Aang had a lot to think about. _I abandoned these people 100 years ago, I can't abandon them again._ "How many benders does your village have left?" Aang asked.

Lo looked up: "Probably about fifteen or so. The Fire Nation either imprisoned or killed many of the town's benders. The remainders of them are too scared to even admit that they can bend."

Aang thought for a few moments: "Do you know where the Fire Nation base is? I mean if they don't live in the town, then they have to be some barracks around here." Aang reasoned.

Lo looked up, slightly confused: "The Fire Nation has a small base a few miles up the road, it's heavily fortified though."

"I need you to gather up all of the benders that you know of, do you understand?" Aang firmly said.

Lo almost immediately left and about an hour later, he came back: "I told the benders to meet in one of the abandoned houses down the road tonight, you can talk to them then. It's to risky for all of them to show up at my front door." Lo said.

"Good thinking Lo." Aang smiled.

The day flew by, before Aang knew it, it was nightfall and he was making his way with Lo over to the abandoned house, avoiding any main streets along the way to prevent them from being seen. When they reached the house, they slowly opened the door, immediately being met by two larger men, who were in offensive stances. Once the two noticed that Aang and Lo were not Fire Nation, they lowered their stances.

Aang quickly made his way into the living area, where all of the villager's benders were waiting. "I know you all must be wondering why I had you meet me here tonight, I don't know if any of you know, but I am the Avatar" Aang said as he pulled his headband and cloak off to reveal his arrow tattoos. There were a few collective gasps in the room, but soon those subsided and Aang continued: "I know your village has been suffering for a long time under the rule of the Fire Nation. I am here to help, but I need you to help yourselves as well."

Aang quickly glanced around the room, many of the faces he saw had a small spark in them, but they were still overpowered by fear. "I'm going to head to the Fire Nation base and attempt to destroy it. The forces held up in this city will head back to the base to support it from my assault. I need the earthbenders to use this time to your advantage. I need you to build as strong wall around the city, to protect against the Fire Nation. Make it large enough to allow for space to plant crops and livestock so you can hold up here in case the Fire Nation decides to come back, which they will."

When Aang looked around, he saw everyone was in utter shock. Lo took that as good news, which meant that they were actually thinking about it. Just when Aang was about to get up, an earthbender towards the front spoke up. "I would like to come with you Avatar, I have lost many of my friends to the people in that base, it would be my honor if I could fight alongside you. Two others volunteered as well. Aang smiled at their courage and agreed for them to come with him. "I also have another favor to ask from you all, can anyone here teach me some basics in earthbending?"

**OOOOOOOOh Aang's gonna learn some earth bending, but from who might you ask? I guess I've gotta keep you guessing now don't I? The next chapter probably won't be out for a little while, who knows. I have a lot of school work this week to think about, so this fic might take a backburner, but that totally depends on the amount of reviews I get. Not a threat, just a graceful nod towards the right direction. **


	4. New Plans and New Friends

**Hey guys, I know I've been posting a lot lately, I've just had an extra hour here and there to write this thing. I've loved all the reviews and love I've gotten from this story already! You have no idea how much it pushes me to roll out another chapter for you guys. I have a few other stories in mind, some I've already started to write and some are still in the outline stage, plus I've got the ones I have already started to post on this site, like changing waters and general Aang. So a lot of writing on my part!**

**Just thought I'd give a quick shout out to those who reviewed for my past chapter, you guys are awesome! :D **

**70oda: I appreciate the praise for Lo, I liked his character a lot and wished I could have developed him more, but sadly he was only a few chapter character. I also wanted to let you know that your review was what inspired me to add Toph into this story period. I was going to make another O.C. to replace her, but Toph seemed like the character that would make more sense, though I do find her harder to depict, tell me how I did with her during this chapter.**

**CharlieFibrosis: Thought I'd give you a quick shout out, I know my past chapters haven't been as long as they could be, just with school and other responsibilities, I don't have loads of time to put out on these stories (I'm sure you of all people understand that) I will be trying to put out longer chapters in the future. AKA: This one is nearly 4000 words, I think that's a pretty good number for me. Nice job on your last chapter of your story btw.**

**Bettsam0731: I appreciate the praise for the story, I've been finding out that as my word count for the story increases, so does my following. (I really appreciate those who were with me in the beginning though)**

**FlameoInstantNoodles: Your comments are on the bottom of this chapter, so once you're done reading, check out my author's note for you.**

**P.S. Thanks to both FlameoInstantNoodles and 70oda for contributing to some of the ideas I had for this chapter, see I do use your ideas you put out in the reviews to better my story, so keep them coming!**

**Onto the story!**

Aang quickly fell asleep that night after the meeting. Lo was kind enough to allow Aang to stay in his small home for the duration of his stay. When Aang awoke the next morning, he noticed that it was barely past dawn, but he could already tell that it was going to be a sunny day. Aang was actually excited as he got dressed and made his way down the thin staircase of Lo's house. He was going to meet his earth bending teacher. He had so many questions going through his mind, he could barely contain them: _was the earth bender a guy or a girl? What was their teaching style? Would he or she be able to teach him?_ He quickly pushed these thoughts out of his mind though.

Aang had far more important things to worry about, before he could meet his teacher, he would have to sneak out of the village. He knew that he could easily escape undetected, but he didn't want to take any chances.

Aang was lucky enough to only encounter a few guards on his way out of the city. They barely paid him any notice.

As he made his way into the brush that marked the entrance to the location that he was told to meet the individual, he sighed in relief.

_I never knew stealth could be so stressful._ Aang thought.

Those thoughts quickly gave way to worry as he started to feel the earth around him slightly shake. It was soon after that he noticed a large hole explode with much force from the earth, revealing a young girl.

She quickly dusted herself off; it was during this time that Aang really got a good look at her. She appeared to look no older than him, maybe 11 or 12. She had jet black hair and pale white skin and she appeared to way no more than 60 pounds. This was a stark contrast to what he believed would be his earth bending teacher, but he kept his emotions intact.

"Do you realize how hard it was to actually find you, I mean, it was feeling around for a darn ant! You're so light on your feet"

"Um... Thanks" Aang said with a nervous chuckle: "I'm Aang; it's nice to meet you..."

"Toph" she finished for him: "The name's Toph."

"So I was told that you're going to be the one to teach me earth ending?" Aang asked. When she finally looked up at him, he noticed something he hadn't caught before: "You're blind?!" Aang said in utter shock.

Toph just took a defensive tone in her voice: "So what if I'm blind? Does it make a difference to you?"

"I'm sorry about that! I really am, I just was shocked that you can earth bend and still be blind like that. I actually think it's pretty cool. Aang said with a look of regret written on his face, though she couldn't see it.

"It's ok Twinkletoes, all is forgiven" Toph said while she walked up to him and strongly punching him in the arm.

"Ouch! If you forgave me, than why did you punch me? And why did you call me that?" Aang finished, now gently nursing his quickly bruising arm.

Toph crossed her arms: "That's how I greet people, and I gave you a nickname because I wanted to."

Aang looked up and noticed that it was already getting close to mid-day. "Let's just start with earth bending already.

"Jeez, someone's in a rush!" Toph said while smiling. She already knew that teaching Aang was going to be fun.

"Why do you want to learn earth bending right now? I mean, don't you have to master waterbending first?"

"I know, I just thought it could be useful skill to have in this stage of my journey, especially against firebenders. I mean, air pretty much fuels fire." Aang said while rubbing his neck from his nervousness.

"Aren't you heading north for that exact reason, to learn waterbending I mean" Toph pressed as she turned to face him.

"I am, I just need all the skills I can right now to defend myself. I am traveling alone now, so I need every advantage I can get." Aang finished while looking down.

At this Toph just looked confused: "What do you mean traveling alone NOW? Where did your traveling companions go?" She added quickly at the end.

"I screwed up and they left me." Aang said, not willing to give any more information.

"Well for whatever reason, they were wrong to leave you. Enough about the mushy stuff there Twinkletoes, let's get to work." Toph finished.

"How much do you know about earth bending so far?" Toph questioned, but when he didn't answer, she figured he knew nothing.

"I need you to mimic my stance. Can you do that for me?" Toph said while she got into a basic earth bending stance which Aang mimicked almost perfectly.

Toph looked him over, noticing that he had indeed mimicked her form almost perfectly, satisfied with this, she continued: "Know, I need you to feel the earth around you." She said rather frankly.

Aang dropped the stance: "How am I supposed to do that?" Aang asked.

"Did I tell you to move out of that stance?" Toph firmly stated.

Aang looked down, slightly frustrated: "No."

When Aang had gotten the stance right again, she continued: "You know how you feel the breeze of the air around you?" Toph began.

Just then, a small breeze came through the clearing, tickling Aang's face; he smiled ever so slightly, happy to be in touch with his element. "Yah, I feel it."

"Good, feeling earth is just like feeling the air, only it's underneath you." Toph said.

Understanding this, it immediately became quiet as Aang attempted to feel the earth around him. After a few minutes, he began to feel the earth slightly pulsating underneath him, like a small heartbeat. "I can feel it; it's like its beating, or slightly vibrating." Aang said in pure wonder.

Toph smiled: "Exactly, the vibrations come from the movements around you, the best earth benders are the ones who listen and wait."

After much effort at first, Aang proved to be a very capable student in Toph's eyes. Though her teaching methods may have seemed a little unorthodox to Aang at first; excelled in earth ending. During the first day, Toph only built up his strength and stamina, she didn't teach him any forms or stances. At this, Aang had been very confused. On the second and third day of their training, all this stamina training finally made sense to him. Aang quickly figured out that under that tiny body, was a spirit that was strong willed and unbreakable. It shocked Aang on a daily basis at the amount of force that Toph put behind every one of her stances and attacks.

During the second day, Toph had taught Aang how to move small earthen objects as well as to shake the ground. Toph had told him that this was an effective move against non earth benders and earth benders alike. She told him that it can throw your opponents off balance, though when she tried to use Aang as an example, he seemed unfazed.

By the third day, Aang was taught more basic forms and attacks. It was during this day that Aang had the opportunity to learn more about Toph.

"So Toph, I know you are an amazing earth bender, but how did you learn to bend like that? I mean, I haven't seen anyone in your town with that kind of skill."

Toph turned to face him: "I learned from the badger moles" She said simply.

Aang's eyes turned to saucers: "Why did they teach you?"

Toph just shrugged: "I never understood why they didn't, maybe they sensed how alone I truly was."

"Why were you alone?" Aang honestly replied.

"My parents are too busy for me. They thought I was frail because I was born blind. They figured out that I was an earth bender and paid a personal trainer to teach me only the safest basics. They hid me from the world, but I still found my way." Toph finished.

"Do your parents live in the village?" Aang asked, wanting to meet them.

"No, they cozied up to the Fire Nation and where able to keep their wealth and their home. It's right up the mountain." Toph said as she pointed towards the house's general direction.

"Enough about me though, lets here your story." Toph almost demanded.

Aang took a seat and then explained how he came to be stuck in ice for 100 years, missing the extinction of his people and the beginning of the war. He talked about Katara and Sokka, how much they inspired him, how they were his family, he talked about all the places they had been and people they had met. He finished with his betrayal and his friends leaving him. It took Aang a good hour and a half to tell his story and by the time it was finished, Toph was speechless.

"That's sum story you got there Twinkletoes. One thing bugs me, after all that time you spent with Sokka and Katara, how could they just up and leave you like that."

Aang looked down, guilty for his mistakes: "It wasn't their fault, it was my own. We should get back to the village. It's getting late."

Toph and Aang walked in silence for the longest time, until the village lights came into view. "I think you're ready Twinkletoes. You aren't a master, by NO means are you remotely close to that…"

Aang just slumped his shoulders: "You really know how to give a guy confidence, don't you Toph."

Toph to this opportunity to swiftly punch him in the arm, where many other bruises had already formed: "Would you let me finished!"

Aang relented and Toph continued: "You have the potential Aang, with some fine tuning; you could get to be a master. Besides, we need to take back this village already."

Aang immediately agreed with her: "I think you're right Toph. We can ready everybody for tomorrow morning. I did want to ask you something. Would you go with me on the assault team?"

Toph just smiled: "I thought you'd never ask."

Getting the earth benders together early that next morning was harder than Aang had previously believed. Many of them were attempting to squirm out of their responsibilities. When Aang had enough, he faced the group: "The Fire Nation took your town, your lively hoods, and all you do is cower in fear. Fight for your nation, fight for you land, fight for your people!"

The simple words encouraged those who were fearful. With this, Aang and Toph made their way to the Fire Nation base. When they had reached it, Aang was actually shocked at how large it was. "I guess this is it, you ready to bash some Fire Nation heads?"

"Let's go" Toph said as she hopped out of her hiding place and began her attacks, furiously sending large chunks of earth towards frantic and confused soldiers. Aang jumped into the fray and sent his own mix of air and earthen attacks. Though they had forced the soldiers back, they quickly organized themselves and fought back. Large bursts of uncontrolled fire spewed from the cluster of soldiers. Aang was lightly burned on his right arm, but he didn't let it affect him, though he did slightly wince in pain. Aang sent large whirlwinds of air at the men, lifting them off their feet and sending them far away.

Aang assumed by now that soldiers had gone and sent for reinforcements from the town. The town would likely be empty at this point. "Hey Toph, you ready to ramp it up a bit?"

"Sure thing Twinkletoes" Toph said while she trapped three more soldiers up to their heads in earth.

Both Aang and Toph got into earth bending stances, forcing a large wall of earth to come crumbling down on the already weakening building. This was the straw that broke the camel's back for the building, it quickly folded under the intense force that Toph and Aang had thrown at it.

Aang smiled at his work, but quickly snapped back to reality when he felt an earth wall go up behind him: "Snap out of it Twinkletoes, reinforcements are here."

They fought for what seemed like forever, both Aang and Toph received many burns but they continued to fight, avoiding the pain for now and staying strong. When the battle was over, there wasn't much left of the base, except many unconscious soldiers that the towns people would likely deal with.

"That was some nice bending back their Twinkletoes, you learned pretty well." Toph commented.

"You weren't so bad yourself." Aang complimented back.

The pair quickly made their way back to the village, which looked more like a fortress now. It only had a make shift wall up, but Aang knew that they could easily increase it's size and thickness in no time. In better words, they wouldn't have to worry about the Fire Nation any time soon.

As the afternoon was quickly coming to a close, the village's leader met Aang and Toph by the gate: "Young Avatar, how can this village ever repay you for what you have done for us?"

Toph interjected for him: "Some money and supplies would be nice."

"Toph! Nothing's-" Aang was swiftly cut off by the Mayor of the village though.

"Nonsense, it's the least we can do for you! You freed us from the Fire Nation, you gave us hope. Thank you again Avatar!"

Aang graciously accepted the supplies and bid the town's Mayor and Toph goodnight. He was, to say it lightly, exhausted from all the fighting. He knew that he needed to have the burns he had received wrapped, but he would deal with it in the morning. Aang quickly and soundly fell to sleep, falling into dreams about a certain waterbender.

Aang awoke the next morning and had his burns looked at and treated by the town's doctor. He then made his way over to Lo's shop, hoping to be able to wish him a goodbye before he was on his way.

He quickly rang the small bell at the shop's entrance. Lo's walked out, ready to great his customer. "Oh Aang, I'm so happy you decided to come and say goodbye to me before you left!" He said while coming out the shop entrance, embracing Aang in a friendly hug.

"You'd think I'd actually leave without saying goodbye? I'm hurt" Aang said in a mock hurt tone.

Lo just laughed, he seemed more alive than when Aang had first met him. He was happy that he could help these people from the Fire Nation's cruel oppression. He wanted to make up for the hundred years that he was absent for the world, and he was glad he could start at this village.

"So what are your plans after you leave this village young Avatar?" Lo questioned.

Aang honestly didn't know an answer to that question, he knew his destination, but not the road there: "I know I want to eventually make it up to the North Pole, but I don't exactly know what the stops are going to be in between."

Lo stepped back and pulled out one of his maps from his store front, he examined them momentarily, than turned towards Aang again. "Ok, it might be a little risky, but it would be the quickest route if you went through the Fire Nation. Not the mainland, but some of the coastal islands, their aren't many inhabited ones and the Fire Nation wouldn't expect you'd come so close to their door step."

Aang thought about it for a few minutes, _It could be a little risky, but it would keep the Fire Nation on their toes. _Aang smiled, knowing his decision: "Ok, I'll head to the Fire Nation once I make it a little further up the coast."

"Good choice Aang, I hope everything goes well for you in your journey, and don't be afraid to drop by your friend Lo's little shop for some good company." Lo finished with a small smile.

"Don't worry, I will Lo" With this, Aang walked towards the gates of the town, being thanked along the way. When he reached the gates and his bison, he was shocked to find a small earthbender already on his bison's saddle. "What do you think your doing?" Aang asked.

"What does it look like, you need someone to look out for you, plus your earthbending could use a little fine tuning. For that matter, it could use a total overhaul."

"So you want to come along?" Aang asked again, making sure he heard right.

"Yah dummy, why would I get on this thing?" Toph said.

Aang shrugged at this, thankful that he wouldn't have to travel completely alone, though he would likely not take her all the way up to the North Pole. He was happy regardless.

With a small smile playing on his lips: "Yip, yip Appa." Aang said as they headed North West, towards the earthkingdom coast, and then onwards to the Fire Nation.

**Katara and Sokka:**

The long week of walking had been quite taxing on not just their bodies, but their nerves. Katara and Sokka had been at each-other's throats for most of the time, bickering for no real reason. Bato just let it slide though, guessing that this was how they normally functioned. He remembered when he and Hakoda were just like that, fighting and bickering about everything and anything, he did reflect that they had become stronger friends because of the hard times though.

"Ugh! Sokka, you are so unbelievable sometimes!" Katara fumed.

"What?" Sokka asked in complete innocence: "I just thought that women should stay in that kind of role."

"Sokka, why do you taunt your sister like that?" Bato reprimanded.

Sokka just rolled his eyes: "Whatever, let's take a break. I need something to eat."

"You're always hungry!" Katara began: "We'll probably run out of food by the end of the week!"

"Stop being over dramatic, we can head to the town I spotted on the map a few days ago, it runs straight through our route to dad, so that way we don't have to deviate from my schedule." Sokka said proudly.

Katara give an exasperated sigh: "You and that stupid schedule of yours!"

"Hey! The schedule is what gets us to dad in a few weeks from now! Don't judge me woman!" Sokka said, his voice cracking slightly as he did so.

Katara smirked: "Oh, because you're such a man, aren't you."

"Just because my voice cracks, doesn't mean you call all the shots here!" Sokka said, he nervousness increasing along with every new crack of his voice. It was during these moments, that he hated puberty.

Bato had had just enough of their bickering for the day, so he attempted to change the subject: "What's the town's name anyway?"

Sokka examined the map for the town again, we he found it, he spoke again: "Gaoling, the name of the town is Gaoling."

**FlameoInstantNoodles: I must confess, you were the one that inspired me to have Toph run away with Aang, originally, I wanted to have Toph stay behind and Aang continue alone, but Toph coming along with Aang could be interesting, though I don't know how long she'll be staying with him though. Message me, need some opinions on ideas that I've had and want to run it by you to see what you think. Thanks!**

**Read and Review as always guys!**


	5. Inner Battles

**Hey guys! Sorry it's taken me so long to post the next chapter, I really feel bad about it, but I've been horribly busy this week, I just had other papers for school to write and I didn't have as much time to devote to this.**

**I also wanted to thank all of my reviewers personally, I hit a mile marker of 20 reviews which makes me really happy. So keep it up!**

**I'm probably going to post an author's note for you guys tomorrow, so just a heads up for that, so don't be too let down when you see a probably 500 word author's note tomorrow. It's essentially meant to get you guy's opinions about some crossroads I've been dealing with on this story. You'll find out more when I post it tomorrow, so keep an eye out for it. **

**Onto the story!**

**Aang and Toph:**

The second Appa had taken off into the sky, Toph had immediately regretted coming with Aang on his bison. She quickly noticed that she could not see on the bison and would get sick very quickly. She had been hanging her head over the side of the bison, and Aang was getting worried for her.

"Hey Toph, you doing ok back there?' Aang asked, worry clearly noticeable in his voice.

"Never better Twinkletoes" Toph replied, prepared to throw up again.

Aang winced slightly at this: "You sure you don't want me to take you back?"

"NO!" Toph quickly said, but recovered just as fast: "I mean, I just wanted to go with you so I could finish your earth bender training. Who else would be able to do that for you?"

"Point taken, just tell me if it gets too much for you." Aang replied.

The rest of the day was filled with much of the same conversations, which all ended the same way, with Aang backing down. Aang found that by the time he landed Appa, Toph seemed like she was becoming acclimated to the new mode of travel and would be mostly okay by the next day. _Thank the spirits._ Aang added silently, afraid to alert the human lie detector a few feet away from him.

Their dinner was silent, both went to sleep, tired from the days traveling as well as the previous day's fighting. Many of the wounds could still be felt from it, but the cause was worth it.

**Back at the Be Fong's Home:**

"This is preposterous! The Avatar did not simply bring our daughter with him by her free will, he must have kidnapped her!" Toph's Father bellowed to the servant who had informed him of Toph's quick exit.

He had quickly sent for the town's two best bounty hunters, when they had reached his living space, they both respectively bowed to Lao.

Poppy could not join the meeting, as she had been crying since the news was brought to the household.

"The Avatar has taken my daughter; I need you two to make sure she is brought back here to safety. You will be paid well." Lao quickly motioned for a large box to be brought out, filled with gold.

Both the bounty hunters quickly agreed to the contract, and left to track the Avatar immediately.

"It's only a matter of time dear; they will find him and make him pay for what he took from us."

**Sokka and Katara:**

It had taken them only the remainder of the day to reach the village called Gaoling. Earlier that morning, they had heard some type of battle going on in the distance, they had also seen the smoke, but they decided to side skirt it and not get involved. When they had reached the gates of Gaoling, they were shocked to see the sheer size of the wall, it appeared as though they were still constructing and improving upon it. They quickly were snapped out of their admiration when a guard called out to them from the wall: "What is your business in Gaoling?"

Bato took the lead on this one, seeing as he was the oldest of the group: "We are just travelers from the Southern Water Tribe. We are trying to meet back up with our fleet and just need some supplies, than we will be our way."

The guard regarded them for a few moments before he opened the gates with earth bending. When the group walked into the town, it appeared to be so vibrant, like they had no knowledge of war, Katara envied them for that.

"Why is everyone so happy" Sokka asked aloud.

Quickly, an older man from a shop called out to him: "You don't know?"

"Know what? We're just travelers." Sokka replied.

"Well, the Fire Nation had occupied our village for years, up until yesterday morning that is. You see, the Avatar came-" But he was swiftly cut off by an overjoyed Katara: "Wait, Aang's here? Bring me to him, right now!" She said, almost begging the shop owner to do what she said.

The shop owner looked down: "I'm sorry little lady, he left Gaoling this morning with one of our earth benders."

"Do you know what direction he went in?" A saddened but not completely defeated Katara asked.

"Why is it so important that you know?" Lo asked suspiciously.

"We are friends of his." Sokka said.

When Sokka said this, Lo's eyes bulged out of shock, than he quickly frowned at the trio: "I will not tell you where he went." Lo said, while he turned and walked back into his shop, clearly upset by something that Sokka or Katara had said.

"Hey! What gives" Sokka said while he banged on Lo's shop door.

After a few minutes of continued banging, the door swung open again: "Why do you persist? I told you I will not tell you where the Avatar went, now leave!"

"But why won't you tell us?" Katara persisted, almost in desperation. _He could still be close, camped somewhere. We can still reach him before he leaves…_

"What you did to that poor child, he still could not blame you" Lo said with a hint of sadness in his voice: "You know you were like his family, the only ones he had left in this world. You threw him away like he was worthless to you. People make mistakes!" Lo finished, his anger slowly leaving him.

By this time, Katara had tears flowing from her eyes, Lo took note of this: "You regret what you did to him."

Katara nodded: "Every second since he left. That's why we need to know where he is, so I can tell him how sorry I am."

Lo understood the pain and regret that she clearly had in her eyes, he relented: "Very well, come into my house and we will talk over some tea."

Once everyone was settled and the tea was passed around, Lo began: "The Avatar came just about two weeks ago. Before he came, our town was under the control of the Fire Nation. We tried to revolt when they first came, but we were punished swiftly. Many earth benders in our village were punished and sent off to work camps in the Fire Nation. The remaining earth benders in our village stayed in hiding, afraid of the consequences of being found out. The Fire Nation essentially sucked the life out of our village. That is, until the Avatar came."

Katara spoke up at this: "But the town looks so vibrant? How could that change in just two weeks?"

"Yah, I haven't seen any Fire Benders around here" Sokka added in.

"I think you kids should allow the man to finish before you start asking questions" Bato scolded.

Lo chuckled: "It's quite alright. I was just getting to that part. When Aang first came to our village, he saw our hurt and stepped up. He organized a small resistance of the remaining earth benders in our village. He distracted the Fire Nation soldiers while we built up walls around our city."

"Aang, held off a large number of Fire Benders? All by himself?" Sokka said skeptically.

"Well, he did have his new earth bending teacher with him. They destroyed the base." Lo responded, while he sipped more of his tea.

"Wait, Aang is learning earth bending? Did he go with him?" Katara quickly asked, desperate for answers.

"Calm down. Yes, she went with him." Lo began, but was swiftly cut off by Sokka hysterically laughing.

"Wait, she was a girl? I didn't know girls could be good earth benders." Sokka said.

"Oh, just like you said girls couldn't be good water benders. To make her point, she bent the remaining liquid out of Sokka's cup, and into his face.

"Good point." Sokka relented as he reached for a napkin.

Bato rolled his eyes at the two siblings: "Do you have any idea what direction they left in?" Bato asked.

Lo remained silent for a few moments, clearly trying to remember: "They went North-West, I suggested they head along the Earth Kingdom coast and then into the Fire Nation to head North."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Katara nearly screamed.

Lo was taken aback by the force of her words: "It was the shortest route to the North Pole."

"But it's through the Fire Nation!" Katara replied.

Bato, seeing Katara's quickly forming temper and worry for Aang's safety, thought it would be best to leave: "I think we have spent enough time here, thank you for you kindness, but now we have to take our leave if we are going to make it in time to meet up with the fleet."

Sokka quickly agreed and began to drag Katara out of Lo's house. But before they could leave, Lo was after them: "Wait! At least take some supplies and stay for the night!" Lo said: "It's the least I could do for someone who was close to the Avatar."

"Is." Katara corrected.

"What?" Lo asked in confusion.

"You said was close to the Avatar, we still are close to Aang." Katara said in a low tone.

"Of course, I meant nothing by the comment Katara" Lo apologized.

"Thank you for your kindness Lo, we will take you up on your offer for the supplies and a place to stay for the night." Bato added in.

"Could you also tell us where the Fire Nation base was?" Sokka quickly added.

"Just follow the black smoke that should still be coming from it" Lo answered.

So the Trio left the house and headed towards the Fire Nation base, strongly aware of the still billowing cloud of black smoke that emitted from it.

When they had arrived, they were shocked by the sheer damage. "I can't believe Aang could actually do this much damage" Sokka admitted.

"You have to remember that he also had his earth bending teacher with him." Bato added.

"But this base had to hold hundreds of Fire Nation soldiers." Katara said aloud.

"I guess we just tend to forget how powerful of a bender Aang is." Sokka admitted.

Katara immediately thought of what Aunt Wu said all that time ago. _I'm supposed to marry a powerful bender.. What if it was supposed to be Aang and I screwed it all up? _Slight tears began to form at the edges of her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away before anyone noticed them.

That night was a sleepless night for Katara, filled with regrets of the past and hope of the future.

**Aang and Toph:**

Appa had made amazing time reaching the Earth Kingdom shore. During the afternoons and evenings, Toph would teach Aang as much earth bending as they could make time for. He was excelling well with it, though he had some stumbling blocks, which Toph would not miss calling him out on. She thought him to be a sissy earth bender on many occasions. The nickname "Twinkletoes" did not exactly help his cause in denying this.

Though they had their rough moments, Aang and Toph were quickly becoming good friends, and Aang was happy for this. He had missed the companionship the few short days that he had no friends with him. Toph filled that gap for him, he needed companionship, even though he knew it would be short lived.

When the ocean was in view, Aang landed Appa for the night, not wanting to travel any farther because he knew his Bison was tired from long day's flight.

Aang and Toph ate in relative silence until Toph spoke up: "So when we get into the Fire Nation, what are your plans?"

"Well, we aren't exactly going into the Fire Nation mainland, there is a large land mass that the Fire Nation has control of that we will be traveling on. It also has a bunch of smaller uninhabited islands leading up towards the North." Aang said.

"Well, you gotta hide your identity when we get there" Toph added.

"Yah, I know, I don't want the Fire Nation figuring out that I'm there. That means that we'll have to walk a lot though so they don't spot Appa." Aang said with a huff.

Appa grunted in disapproval.

Toph just shrugged: "Hey, its fine with me. I don't like flying anyway." Toph raised her feet to further imply that she was blind while flying.

Aang just smiled: "Sorry Toph, I just keep forgetting you're blind."

"No biggie, it's sorta a relief for someone to forget every once and a while." Toph replied.

"I understand, it feels good not to be known for title, but for who you actually are." Aang said.

"Eh. Enough of this touchy feely moment, we should probably get some sleep." With that, Toph took a few steps back and made an earthen tent for herself. She was quickly off to sleep.

Aang wasn't as tired as who hoped he would have been, so he decided to meditate for a little while, to think on what actually happened over the past few couple of days.

As Aang got into his comfortable lotus position, he actually took a few moments to relax. Which had been largely uncharacteristic of him throughout the past few weeks. _I've been either training with Toph, or planning with Lo and the other earth benders for the past few weeks. I've barely even given thought to Katara or Sokka._ Aang didn't know how to take that. He knew he missed them deeply, but he was beginning to feel the edge being taken off the pain of abandonment. It felt good, _for once. _He took out Katara's necklace that he always kept in his pocket. It glimmered in the moonlight. _Just like her eyes._

Wherever Katara was, he wished the best for her. He was finally ready to let go.

**Katara and Sokka:**

"Katara, you just gotta let it go!" Sokka said, growing very annoyed at Katara.

"I will not let it go; we can catch up to him!" Katara lamely replied.

"We've been over this again and again; I will not take you to the Fire Nation so you can chase after him. We are meeting up with your father and that is final!" Bato said, leaving no room for debate.

Katara had no choice but to go along with what Bato said. They had gotten a good night sleep after seeing the damage at the base near the town. Lo had been nice enough to pay for rooms at the inn down the road from his shop for them. He claimed that it was the least he could do. Their town was saved after all, Sokka had reasoned the previous night.

Both Sokka and Bato had planned the route that they would take towards Ba Sing Se, after consulting with Lo of course. They needed to know the danger zones of the Earth Kingdom. Katara was not invited to this meeting, Bato and Sokka told her that she was sleeping; they didn't think it was worth waking her up for.

The argument that had just taken place had soon followed, and much to Katara's annoyance, they were not going to go after Aang. He could have been so close to them, but just far enough that it wasn't plausible to go out of their way to make the attempt.

She felt like she was being dragged to her dad and she felt bad about it. _I should be happy, way am I not happy? _Katara thought to herself, but all the answers she came up with made her feel worse. _You'd rather find Aang then find your dad. _She didn't want to think that way, but she knew it to be true.

Before she could wallow in her self-hatred, Sokka pulled her out of her own thoughts: "We're leaving Katara, stop day dreaming and start walking" Sokka smirked.

Katara rolled her eyes in response: "Yes, oh great brother of mine."

The hours rolled by fairly fast, most of it was filled with Bato telling them more about stories of Hakoda. He seemed to the siblings to not have changed a bit. He could be serious in one moment, but completely light hearted in the next. It reminded Katara a lot of what she thought Aang's personality was like.

She had to admit, she was mad at her dad for leaving, but she was also mad at Aang for letting her leave him without a fight. He just looked at her with those big grey eyes of his, he was so sad, but he let her go. She scolded herself, yet again, for being mad at him at all.

He cared enough to let her make her own decision. _I guess that's why I like him so much. _Katara immediately snapped from her thoughts at this. _When did I start liking him and what level of like am I even talking about? _Katara didn't quite know what the answers to her questions were, but she had been off center ever since Aang was out of her life, and she felt terrible about it, that much she knew for sure.

**Aang:**

They had flown for most of the day without issue, that is until they were spotted by a small convoy of Fire Navy ships. Much to Aang's dismay, they quickly shot off a flare to alert surrounding ships to their location. Soon enough, the three ships that started the chase in the first place, turned into a dozen ships that began to open Fire on them.

"Hey Twinkletoes! You got any other bright ideas?" Toph screamed as she felt another blazing fireball pass dangerously close by.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" Aang distractedly replied.

"Think faster!"

"I got it!" Aang pulled on Appa's reigns and made his bison plummet towards the water. He quickly leveled out just feet from the waves.

"Don't ever do that again!" Toph screamed.

Aang paid little attention to her as he was more focused on the now growing number of near misses that they were dodging. Aang quickly pulled a bubble of water around Appa and guided him under the water, where he knew they would be relatively safe. He lightly cursed himself for his lack of waterbending skills. Though he struggled to keep the relatively small bubble surrounding Appa up, he quickly found that he could not keep this task up. He quickly changed Appa's direction and proceeded to hold up the protective bubble for about 15 more minutes before he allowed Appa to resurface.

Appa gave a great full grumble as he surfaced. "I know you didn't like doing that buddy." Aang said as he affectionately petted his animal.

"Hey, I didn't like it either, maybe you should plan these things better. You shoulda figured we would have come into contact with Fire Navy ships. Diving into the ocean probably wasn't the best idea. But I give you props for ingenuity. Just don't do it again." Toph finished with a light smirk.

Aang smiled back at her, though he knew she couldn't see him. "No problem Toph."

As Aang turned back around to guide Appa, he noticed that there was an island not too far from them. He was happy too, because it was getting pretty dark out and he didn't want Appa to swim or fly at night.

When they had finally reached the shore, it had already turned dark out. "So where do we go from here Twinkletoes?" Toph asked.

Aang thought for a few moments, then decided to take out a map that he had kept with him: "I'd like to avoid any high traffic areas. It looks like there is a town not too far from here that we can buy some supplies from and be on our way. Hopefully we won't have to stop in any other town after this. We should be able to just collect what we need from here on out." Aang finished.

"Any meat in that grand plan of yours? Cause I'm starved." Toph replied as she flicked another berry into her mouth.

Aang smirked at this: "You're sounding like Sokka."

"Who's Sokka?" Toph asked.

"Oh yah, I forgot, you didn't know them. Remember those to friends I told you about?"

"The ones that ditched you?" Toph asked.

Aang visibly flinched at this, but Toph didn't notice: "Uh… Yah… Their names were Sokka and Katara. Sokka was sorta a meat head, I mean that literally. He only thought about meat and his schedule."

"I'm not a meat head! I just like to eat!" Toph defended.

"That's what he used to always say"

Knowing that Aang had won, she huffed and attempted to change the subject: "So, how long will it take to get to the village?"

"Not long, maybe a few days walk." Aang said.

After some food and further conversation, both companions decided to get some rest.

The next few days went by uneventfully. They had a few close calls with Fire Nation patrols, but Toph's keen sense of things around her allowed them to avoid them completely. On the third day of their travel, they finally made it to a sign post with directions on it to the town. "Good news Toph" Aang began as he observed the small map: "It looks like we're only an hour or so from the village."

"Thank God! If you told me we had to walk for another day, I was probably going to pound you to death." Toph tired replied.

Aang inwardly groaned at this: "You do realize that we have to walk for the rest of the way there, right?"

Toph didn't bother to let her groan go unnoticed: "Remind me why I tagged along for this?"

"Because you wanted the chance to teach me earth bending and bash some Fire Nation soldiers?" Aang said hopefully.

"I don't mean to burst your bubble or anything, but I'd go with the later in this circumstance" Toph casually said.

Just as Aang was about to turn towards the direction of the town and continue to walk, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was a poster of him: "What's this?" Aang asked as he tore the poster of himself off the large sign.

"Oh, why not ask the blind girl?" Toph sarcastically replied.

"Not funny Toph, I think this is a wanted poster of me…" Aang worriedly said.

"Sweet!" Toph enthusiastically cried: "When do you think I'll get one?"

Aang only scowled at her: "Toph! I'm being serious here, this isn't good!"

"So this means people will know your face, not like a blue arrow tattoo didn't give you away in the first place?" Toph casually replied.

Aang just sighed in defeat: "Fine, I'll just stick to wearing my clock and I'll conceal my face."

"Now you're thinking Twinkletoes." Toph smirked.

The trip to the town was relatively short, and when they had come close enough to it, Aang noticed the fireworks that had been going off. It also appeared to be crowded from what he could see from their position just outside the town's main gate.

"Looks like sticking to small, scarcely populated towns went right out the window." Toph said.

Aang looked down in defeat: "This is going to be such a bad idea." But when he looked back up, he noticed some fire benders doing performances, it was then that he got an idea: "Hey! I can watch some fire bending up close, maybe I can learn something from it."

"No offense Twinkletoes, but don't you see enough fire bending close up?" Toph questioned.

Aang just shrugged it off: "Yah, but these people won't be attacking me."

"True enough."

With that, the duo changed into their cloaks and made their way towards the town, what they didn't know was that they were being watched. This festival would be both memorable and dangerous.

**Just want to give thanks again to all my reviewers, here are my replies:**

**AvatarCat13: **I have begun to give a little book 2 flair to this story, but only because it makes a lot of sense to. Aang needs companionship, so Toph was the most logical companion that you guys would accept. I was going to make a totally new character, but so many of you wanted the earth bender to be Aang, that I had little choice but to relent. Thanks for the prays on the story, I hope to push out more chapters that you hopefully enjoy.

**70oda: **What can I say about you? You're one of my favorite reviewers, to reply to the time length issue with Aang's learning. I remember that Aang had a hard time with earth bending for a day or two in the series, but once he got past that block, he began to catch onto the basics pretty quickly. Though it was hard work, he knew the basics. Aang in my story is by no means a master earth bending, he is more of a novice, he knows how to move small boulders and bring up walls. He will get better as the story goes on.

As for Toph's parents being in the Fire Nation, they are not. They are still in Gaoling, I apologize if I didn't explain myself well in the story. The Be Fong's have an agreement with the local Fire Nation soldiers; they get to keep their wealth while the Fire Nation keeps its hold on the town.

Thanks again for the great review; I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last few.

**CharlieFibrosis: **Thanks for the great ideas, if I use any of them, which I was honestly moving in those directions, I will be sure to give you credit for those ideas in my story. Thanks again for the great review and the praise that you gave me, keep up your great work on your stories. They are truly great pieces of writing.

**Gamelover41592:** Thanks for the compliment to the story, I will try to keep up the good work.

**FlameoInstantNoodles: **I am really fighting between CharlieFibrosis's idea and yours about what to do when Aang gets to the North Pole. It is a problem child for me at the moment, but it is coming up quickly, so I have to make my mind up.

**Guest: **To hoomever this is, I'm sorry I haven't had the time to update lately, I will be keeping Toph in the story for the forseeable future, though when she leaves is up in the air at the moment. I am trying to work on the grammatical errors. But I don't have all the time in the world to read over what I have written for grammar mistakes. I will try harder in this field, it just might take me longer to update. But if someone wants to help me by reading my work over, I would be eternally grateful and would give you credit where it is deserved.

**Ok guys, keep an eye out for that authors note, have a great Saturday all!**


	6. The AN

**Hey all, I promised an author's note, so here it is. I just had a few questions about where you guys would want me to take this story. I mean, I have a general idea of where I want to go, but would like your imputes or opinions on some questions I've been asking myself:**

**Do you want Aang, Katara, and Sokka to meet up at the North Pole?**

**Do you not want them to meet up, and have Aang continue the journey without them?**

**Do you want me to stop this story at the North Pole or continue it past that?**

**If I do continue this story, would you want me to stay cannon, or do you want me to be more creative with it?**

**Any imputes or opinions would be great on any or all of these questions, feel free to message me or review with some answers, as always, I thank all of my dedicated readers, you guys are the best!**

**I should have the next chapter up eventually, just give me some time.**


	7. The Bending Master and The Pass Part 1

**Hey guys! I just wanted to start by saying thanks to all of the wonderful reviews I've been getting as of late. A special thanks to all of those he read the author's note and answered the questions for me. I think I know what I'm going to do, it's so evil, you might love me or you might hate me! But regardless, it's gonna be good. Just got to wait a few more chapters until I get to the North Pole!**

**Everyone who reviewed, once you are done with this chapter, I have written each of you replies to your reviews at the bottom as I always do. You guys really push me to put out chapters more often. So thanks and keep reviewing!**

**BTW: I wrote most of this chapter on the notes app on my iphone during the SuperBowl and then copied and pasted it to fanfiction mobile. This is the last time I'll do that. Lol So there might be some errors in this chapter. They do need to add Bold and Italisized to the iphones keyboard; thank God fanfiction has those things.**

**Onto the next chapter!**

The town appeared to be in the middle of a celebration. Though the cloaks that Toph and Aang were wearing protected their identities, it made them stick out like a sore thumb to the rest of the crowd. "I think we should get some masks Toph."

Toph was confused: "Why? I thought the cloak would hide us pretty good."

"Well, usually it would, but everyone is wearing masks."

Just when Aang was about to begin his search for a mask for both Toph and himself, a salesman walked up to him, offering two for a small price.

Once the masks where purchased, he and Toph were able to easily blend into the still growing crowd of people.

"I wonder what all of these people are celebrating about?" Toph wondered aloud.

"How do you guys not know? It's the Fire Days festival. All Fire Benders from the colonies come to celebrate and show off their talents" The man looked genuinely surprised by their lack of knowledge of the event.

Aang quickly tried to cover for them: "Oh, it's that festival. I can't believe I forgot the name!"

Though he looked and sounded like a complete idiot, the man accepted his answer and moved on, shaking his head.

Toph just rolled her eyes: "You gotta be a little more careful there Twinkletoes, you have to think on your feet a little more."

Aang looked shocked: "You're gonna blame me? I wasn't the one who questioned why all these people are here, I'M not even that stupid."

Now Toph was mad: "You are so lucky that we are in a Fire Nation town right now, otherwise I would have crushed you a long time ago."

Aang gave her his trademark smile: "Oh come on Toph, we are at a festival, let's have a little fun before you kill me"

Toph smirked at him for his slight sarcasm: "Fair enough Twinkletoes. But I'm starved!"

Aang groaned outwardly: "You are so like Sokka."

"You keep comparing me to some guy that I've never met, stop doing that!"

Aang rubbed his neck: "Sorry Toph."

After Aang bought Toph some fire flakes, which she consequently hated, they began to walk through to some of the attraction. Aang watched a small puppet show, which displayed the Fire Lord burning an Earth Kingdom soldier for questioning him. Aang was disgusted, to say the least.

As Aang was about to call it quits for the night, he noticed another performance was about to start in a few minutes. "Hey Toph, can we watch this last performance, it looks like it'll have a fire bender in it."

"Whatever" Toph huffed. She clearly wanted to get back to camp soon.

As Aang and Toph pushed to the front of the growing crowd, the performer stepped onto the stage: "To close off the Fire Day Festival, I have one last performance for you!" At this, the crowd cheered, including Aang.

"Before I start, I'll need a helper!" The performer said.

By this time, almost everyone in the crowd was raising their hands, except Toph.

The man noticed this and pointed straight to her: "How about you little lady."

Since she was blind she didn't notice him pointing to her, but when she fault people begin to lift her up onto the stage, she called out to Aang: "Don't worry Toph; I won't let anything happen to you!" Aang yelled over the noise of the crowd. This didn't quell Toph though, she never wanted to admit it, but she was afraid of fire, especially with no earth to feel around her.

"For my last performance, I will tame a dragon against my damsel in distress." He blindfolded her, but Toph found it largely unnecessary since she couldn't see anyway.

To Aang's amazement, the performer began to form a large fire dragon, creating a whip in his other hand to lasso it with. "I can't control it much longer" The performer said before the small whip disintegrated; allowing the dragon to move straight towards the unprotected Toph. Aang thought fast, jumping onto the stage in between Toph and the dragon. Taking his stance, Aang airbended the dragon away, but to his surprise, it turned into confetti.

Everyone cheered at this, that is, until someone in the crowd pointed Aang out as the Avatar. Aang quickly untied Toph and tried to lead her off the stage. It was at this point that two small explosives went off around them. Aang instinctively shielded Toph from the blast, though he was injured, he began to lead Toph into an alley.

Fire Nation soldiers were giving chase to them. Aang blew hard on his bison whistle, but just before he was going to jump onto Appa, a smoke bomb exploded nearby. For a split second, he lost his grip on Toph: "Toph!" Aang yelled.

Just as he was about to blow the air away from around him; he found himself quickly grabbed and flung into the air and onto his bison. A mysterious man seemed to be the cause of the bombs, Aang figured as he took a few more bombs, set them off, and threw them into a nearby fireworks bundle; effectively covering their escape.

When they were out of immediate danger, Aang turned towards the cloaked man. Before he could begin to ask questions, the man spoke: "Hi, my name is Chey. I'm sorry for the danger I put you in, I never intended to hurt the Avatar." Chey noticed a little blood staining through his clothes.

Aang shrugged him off: "It's only a little scratch, thanks for the help in the escape. My name is Aang and this is Toph by the way" Aang said as he put his hand out.

Chey smiled: "Nice to meet you Aang and Toph"

Toph huffed: "It just would have been nice to be given a little warning is all."

Chey laughed a little: "Sorry, I was only following orders"

"Orders from whom?" Toph questioned.

Chey smiled proudly: "From Master Jeong Jeong."

Aang looked slightly confused: "Who is he"

Chey deadpanned: "How do you not know him, he is the first ever Fire Nation soldier to desert and live. I was the second, but you don't get much for being second."

"Where is he now, you think I could meet him?" Aang quickly asked.

"He's right up the river" Chey said as he pointed off in the general direction of his leader.

Aang quickly turned Appa in that direction, but soon Chey told him that it would be better if he landed Appa and just walked the remainder of the trip. He didn't want to alert the Fire Nation of his group's camping sight.

About half way through the walk, the group was surrounded by warriors and led in blindfolds to the camp. Though Chey said he was a part of this mysterious group, he was treated the same as Aang and Toph.

When they reached the camp, Aang and Toph were given a tent to rest in until Jeong Jeong was informed of their presence. Until that time, Aang was given medical care for the wounds he had sustained during the attack.

Toph just fumbled with her hands during this time, but when they were given privacy, she spoke: "I wanted to thank you for what you did back there."

"For doing what Toph" Aang sincerely asked.

"For protecting me like that, I couldn't see what was coming at me, so thanks for watching my back."

Aang only smiled: "That's what friends are for Toph." Aang concluded to touching her shoulder, but Toph quickly shrugged him off.

"Don't think I'm going soft or anything on you now!" Toph huffed.

Aang rolled his eyes: "You? Never."

It was many hours before Aang Chey came back into Toph and Aang's tent: "He doesn't want to see you."

Both Aang and Toph were completely shocked: "What do you mean he doesn't want to see Aang? He's the Avatar!"

Chey only bowed his head further: "I doesn't think you are ready to see him yet."

Aang didn't want to hear any more of this, he quickly left the tent and marched straight over to Jeong Jeong's.

When he entered, he was shocked by the amount of candles that were lit within. Aang also noticed the tree that appeared to be dead that was firmly rooted in the corner of his tent. Jeong Jeong appeared to be meditating, with his back facing the door.

"I thought I told you that I didn't want to see you." Jeong Jeong calmly said.

"I was kinda hoping that you could teach me some fire bending." Aang said, clearly ignoring what Jeong Jeong has said.

"You lack self-control and restraint, you have not learned the other elements, and therefore I will not teach you."

"I need to master firebending and you might be my only opportunity, I need you to teach me!" Aang desperately replied.

"No, this debate is over." Jeong Jeong said: "You may leave now."

Before Aang could leave the tent, a spirit cloud formed in the room in front of Jeong Jeong, completely unknowingly to Aang.

"You will teach Aang fire bending." Roku's spirit said.

"Roku! But he does not know restraint, he isn't ready to control fire bending." Jeong Jeong replied, clearly flustered now.

"Who are you talking to? Is that Roku? Roku! Tell him I'm ready." Aang said, before tripping over himself and falling unceremoniously to the ground.

"This is what I'm talking about" Jeong Jeong said as he motioned towards the fallen Avatar.

"I understand, but he needs to learn." Roku said firmly before dissipating.

Jeong Jeong looked towards the ground: "Very well, I will teach you."

Aang jumped in the tent with his fist raised: "Yes!" But he quickly recovered when he realized his mistake: "I mean, very well."

Aang smiled, he would finally get a chance to learn fire bending.

**Katara and Sokka:**

It had been a hard few weeks since the trio had left Gaoling. They had a few encounters with Fire Nation soldiers, the funny part was that they were no longer wanted people, so they were just ignored. Not traveling with the Avatar did have its perks.

From Sokka's map, Katara could tell that they were getting close. They were likely only two or three days away from their father now.

"I guess we can head through this long winding path." Sokka said as he scrutinized his map.

Katara peered over his shoulder, trying to get a better look at the road that they would be traveling. "It's called the Serpent's Pass. I don't like it already."

Sokka just rolled his eyes: "Hey, it's the shortest path to dad, we are going to take it."

"Sokka has a point Katara, it won't be that bad for us." Bato interjected.

Knowing that she was outnumber, she conceded: "Fine, it looks like it will only take a day or two to get threw anyway."

"Yah, and then it's just a straight path to Chameleon Bay from here. " Sokka said with a small smile forming on his lips: "Finally"

Katara looked up, noticing that it was almost mid-day: "I think we should get a move on, I'd like to get through this Serpant's Pass as soon as possible."

The group walked in mostly silence the whole way to the beginning of the pass, there was a sign on one of the posts and Katara read it aloud: "Abandon Hope"

"I already don't like this place" Bato said aloud.

Ignoring Bato, Sokka just started to walk along the thin pass. Sometime later, Sokka spoke: "I guess they get the name cause the path is winding like a Serpent."

"Probably" Bato mused back.

Katara wasn't paying much attention to the banter that was going on ahead of her, she was more worried about how she would broach the subject of Aang to her father. She knew that he wouldn't want her to follow him right off the bat. _I need to convince him to go up north. What can I use though? _She had been avoiding these questions for the past few weeks now, not liking any answers that she was coming up with, essentially, she was still at square one.

At this point, she knew she hadn't seen her dad in years, she figured, that he would go into protective dad mode the second he saw her. _He'll likely send us all back to the Southern Water Tribe, he isn't gonna go in the opposite direction._

Before she could dwell on the topic any longer, Sokka had called for camp to be set up in what appeared to be a large outcropping. After dinner had been made and Sokka's meat addiction fulfilled, he quickly went off to bed, but Katara couldn't sleep, not yet and Bato noticed it.

"Is everything ok Katara?" Bato asked as he sat beside her.

Katara was startled out of her thoughts; she had truthfully not expected anyway to come talk to her: "I'm doing fine Bato"

Bato gave a small chuckle at this: "You know, you are just about as easy to read as a children's book"

Katara only grew irritated at this, but in an instant, he grew serious again: "It's about your father, isn't it."

Katara looked up at him: "How am I going to convince him to head north so we can meet up with Aang?"

Bato thought for a few moments: "I honestly don't know an answer to that question, your father isn't going to want to take his men that far from the South Pole"

"I know, I know, I just need to get up there. Aang needs me" Katara looked down, tears forming in her eyes: "I need him"

At this confession, Bato was not at all shocked; he suspected that Katara had feelings for the young Avatar. Though she likely couldn't fully understand them, he knew it for what it was. "You love the boy, don't you?"

Over the past few weeks, Katara had found that she loved him, but decided to try and cover it up: "I love him like a brother Bato, he's family to me."

Bato was not at all convinced, in fact, he smiled knowingly: "If the Spirits decide that you should cross paths with him again, they will make it happen for you."

Katara didn't seem so convinced at this: "I just need the right words to say to dad, he has to go north."

"I know, I know Katara." Bato said as he wrapped his arms gently around her and gazed at the full moon.

When the trio had woken up the next morning, ate, and packed up the small camp, they continued on their journey.

The previous day had be easy travel, with generally flat areas, but during the second half of the Serpant's Pass, it was slightly more dangerous. It was more rocky, with steeper drops and thinner passageways.

After a few hours of trudging along this path, the reached what appeared to be the highest point in the Serpant's path. Sokka voiced his thankfulness immediately: "Oh thank the spirits!" Sokka cried dramatically.

Both Katara and Bato rolled their eyes dramatically, annoyed at Sokka's immaturity. But when Katara looked back up from her brother, she finally noticed it. "Sokka, take a look at this"

When Sokka got back up, he turned towards the other side of the precipice. It had remained blocked by a large rock wall previously. What he laid eyes on next shocked him completely: "Oh man"

**Another cliff hanger! Can anyone guess what it is? Idk when the next chapter will be out. Whenever I get inspiration, Now onto the reviewer's replies.**

**AvatarCat13: I just want to start out by saying that you reviewing my story is huge! I absolutely love your story Kataang Island adventure, wish I could write with that kinda skill, but I'm not there yet. Keep up the great work on that story. As for the review, I really do appreciate the kind words. I liked ch. 5 a lot, it showed Katara's regret as well as Aang's ability to move on. He needs to if he is gonna survive, though it will cause tension later in the story for him.**

**Gamlover41592: I appreciate both your review on ch. 5 as well as your response on the A/N. I will be setting things right in a few chapters, sorta… But I'll let you be the opinion of that. :p**

**Nyistar: I will be continuing the story after the North Pole, I have begun to think up ideas, but usually my best work just comes out of me sitting down and just writing without a plan. When I started this story, I actually had no idea where I was going to take it or if it would stick, when it got such great responses, I immediately picked it up and here are the results. **

**Blazelight790: Thanks for the first time review! I am glad you love the story and believe me, there will be some angst and I will not be following the cannon completely, because than I just feel like it gets too redundant. **

**Seaweed Fish Girl: Thanks for the review, I appreciate it tons and will take your advice in some areas pertaining to the jealousy, but we will see where that goes.**

**Farticus: just wanted to say thanks for making me laugh this morning, great review!**


	8. The Bending Master and The Pass Part 2

**Hey all! I'm back with another chapter! I know it took me a little while to get this one out, but I've been pretty busy as of late. I thought this chapter was pretty good, only a little while to the North Pole now! Read and Review: Reviewers replies are at the bottom so if you reviewed, find yours!**

**Aang and Toph:**

After convincing Jeong Jeong to teach him fire bending, Aang's spirits had been lifted greatly. When he made it back to his and Toph's tent, she even noticed his mood change. "What's up with you Twinkletoes? Did the talk with Jeong Jeong turn out alright or something?"

Aang's smile only grew wider: "He's agreed to teach me fire bending!"

"Before you just start flinging fire from your fingertips, maybe you should try and learn a little more of your waterbending first." Toph replied, effectively quelling Aang's good mood.

"But I have a fire bending teacher now, why would I pass up on this opportunity?" Aang said, confusion clearly written on his face.

Toph sighed: "I don't know, it just doesn't feel right that you learn fire bending first, it's pretty dangerous and uncontrollable."

Aang rolled his eyes: "So in other words, you don't think I have what it takes to be a fire bender yet."

Toph was now growing slightly frustrated: "I'm not saying that! What I'm trying to say is that you should learn the other bending styles first before you tackle fire bending!"

"Toph, Jeong Jeong is here to train me now. If I pass up on this opportunity, who knows when I'll get the chance again." Aang said, slightly lowering his voice in the process.

Toph didn't say anything at first, but after a few minutes of silence, she spoke again: "I know I'm gonna regret this, but go learn your fire bending."

Aang smiled again: "I won't make you regret this Toph." Aang turned and left the tent, clearly going to talk to Jeong Jeong about his first lesson.

"I think I already have." Toph whispered.

As Aang walked over to Jeong Jeong, he noticed that he appeared to be just standing by the small river's shore. When Aang stood beside him, he noticed that Jeong Jeong's eyes were also closed. _I guess this is his form of meditation. _It was at this point that Aang also joined him, just quietly enjoying the peace of the warm day. Though Aang was trained to do this for long periods of time by the monks, he quickly grew impatient because he was eager to learn fire bending. It was at this time, that Aang spoke: "So when do I learn fire bending?"

Jeong Jeong did not answer immediately, but when he did, he appeared to remain calm: "Have you no restraint Avatar? Can you not just enjoy the beauty of the nature around you?"

Aang rolled his eyes: "Yah. Yah. I know about the beauty of nature! But I really want to start my training."

With a resignated sigh, Jeong Jeong conceded: "Very well, let us begin."

Jeong Jeong walked Aang into the middle of the shallow river: "The first part of your training is to learn the proper stance." It was at this point that Jeong Jeong took a basic fire bender's stance. His knees were bent, shoulders squared, and core unbreakable. Aang tried to copy the stance, but it was all wrong.

His instructor snapped at him: "No! Your feet are not far apart, bend your knees further, and stop slouching so much!" By the time Aang had corrected all of this, he was in a very aquard position.

Jeong Jeong smiled: "Very good, now fire breathes, it grows and shrinks. It feeds off of your will, your emotions, and most importantly, it feeds off of the sun. Can you feel the heat on your back?" Aang nodded at this and Jeong Jeong continued: "Good, now take deep breaths in through your noes.

Aang quickly replied, taking deep breaths in, he knew it was hot out, but he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind.

Jeong Jeong nodded at his progress: "Good. Good." At this, he began to walk back to his tent without telling Aang what to do next.

Aang immediately dropped out of his stance: "Wait, what am I supposed to do next?"

"Did I tell you to stop breathing?!" Jeong Jeong snapped.

Aang quickly looked down: "No."

"Then continue until I tell you otherwise."

The next few days were the same way for Aang, though he was usually a patient spirit, his patience was quickly dwindling as the days passed. The first day was filled with Aang standing in the small river, just breathing. The next day was spent on top of a mountain doing the same thing. By the time the third day came around, Aang was really ready to fire bend, his impatience was easily showing by then, and Jeong Jeong knew this.

"So are you going to teach me some real fire bending today?" Aang said, almost knowing the answer already.

"Yes. We are." Jeong Jeong calmly replied.

Aang had to double take: "Wait, what?"

Jeong Jeong requested that Aang move into his fire bending stance, which he automatically followed. Many leaves were falling around them, Jeong Jeong simply snatched one and burned it slightly. He then spoke: "Try to prevent this leaf from burning up, focus on it."

"Wait, how is this fire bending?" Aang said, while losing focus on the leaf. It quickly burned up.

Jeong Jeong just rolled his eyes and plucked another leaf for Aang's training. This time though, Aang paid more attention to the leaf. When Jeong Jeong left, Aang began to stair intently at the leaf, until Toph interrupted him: "So what are you stuck doing now?" She asked.

Aang rolled his eyes: "He's making me stare at a leaf and try to prevent it from burning through."

Toph laughed at his misfortune: "Oh. That's grand! You have to stare at a leaf? I bet you won't ever complain about earth bending ever again."

Aang sighed in defeat: "Definitely."

In the short moment, Aang lost his focus again, but this time, the leaf burst into a small flame: "Toph! Look! I'm fire bending!"

"Why is it so hard to understand that I'm blind!" Toph said.

Aang began to play with the small ball of fire: "This is so cool!"

Toph, for the first time in a long time, attempted to air on the cautious side: "That's great and all Aang, but maybe you should wait till Jeong Jeong teaches you a little more before you start to play with it."

Toph's words fell on deaf ears though, Aang quickly began to experiment with the flame, making it larger and smaller. He began to truly feel the fire's breath and life. "I wonder how that performer did that trick." Aang wondered aloud. He began to copy the performer's form, spreading his hands out in a motion. Before he could finish the move, it exploded in front of him, causing searing pain to move up his hands and arms, this was also accompanied by a loud scream from Toph.

Jeong Jeong quickly ran out of his tent, hearing the commotion, but once he saw the damage, he looked down. "You burned my feet!" Toph screamed as she began to crawl away.

Aang quickly faught through his own pain, trying to fully grasp what had actually happened: _I burned Toph! I burned myself! I'm such and idiot! I knew I wasn't ready to fire bend! Why didn't I listen to myself! Idiot. Idiot._

As he attempted to follow Toph, he was immediately stopped by Jeong Jeong: "No, I will talk to her, you stay here. I will deal with you later." Aang sadly obeyed Jeong Jeong's command and went to the shore, cradling his injured arms.

He gently placed his hands in the water, but something amazing happened. The water around his hands and arms began to glow and bright blue. When the glowing faded, so did he pain. This completely shocked Aang. _What happened to me? What did I do? _

"You are a healer." Chey began: "I haven't seen one of those in years. It's a rare ability among water benders. It allows you to control the flow of the chi path ways, allowing the regenerative processes to move quicker than they usually would."

Aang smiled at this: "That means I can heal Toph!" Aang said as he began to get up, but Chey stopped him. He clearly wanted to talk.

"I would like to say a few things before you go, if you don't mind." Chey said in a serious note, when Aang nodded his agreement, Chey continued: "Do you realize what you did wrong?"

Aang frowned slightly: "I was brash and impatient. I was foolish with my skills. I should have waited to learn fire bending until I mastered the other elements. Due to my impatient attitude, I hurt a friend as well as myself. I can't forgive myself for that." Aang finished by looking down.

"You are wrong Aang, you learned the perfect lesson from you training: You needed to understand restraint and I think this situation taught you it. Learn the other bending arts, than begin your fire bending training."

Aang nodded at this, still frowning at his stupidity.

Chey immediately snapped into attention when he remembered his real reason for coming to Jeong Jeong's tent: "Do you know where Jeong Jeong is?" Chey quickly asked.

"I think his is down by the river, looking for Toph probably, why?" Aang asked.

Chey look down: "Some of our men attacked what appeared to be Fire Nation vessels, the leader is Zhao. He is likely coming for either Jeong Jeong or you."

Aang quickly got up, running towards the direction Chey pointed in, he hoped he could get there in time to warn them.

**Toph: **

_Hey burned me! My feet! How will I be able to bend or see?! _These thoughts and many others were swirling through her mind. She heard water off in the distance and thought that it would be best to make it to the shore and try to cool of the burns so they wouldn't hurt as much as they did.

When she placed her feet in the water, instant relief flowed through he burned feet. She sighed in temporary relief. It was during these few moments that she thought about her situation a little more, she knew her feet were burned pretty badly, though that was only a guess based on the level of pain she was feeling. It was during these times that she wished that she wasn't blind.

"He burned you pretty badly" Jeong Jeong observed.

Toph turned around: "This is all yours and Aang's fault. If you would have been a little more careful and Aang wouldn't have been so excited to learn fire bending, this wouldn't have happened!"

Jeong Jeong shook his head in disagreement: "You believe that this was what I wanted? Aang's desire to learn fire bending quickly blinded him to the dangers of the element. This situation has taught him restraint, a valuable tool when fire bending."

This only made Toph even more angry: "Maybe Aang can share some of that restraint and make my feet better."

"Actually, I can make your feet better Toph" Aang cautiously interjected.

"Get away from me!" Toph said, but Aang pressed forward until he was touching her feet with the healing technique he had just learned.

Jeong Jeong's eyes widened in amazement: "You can heal."

Once Aang was finished with Toph's feet, they held none of the previous burn damage. Soon after Aang turned to Jeong Jeong and bowed to him: "Thank you for training me, but I must respectably end my fire bending training."

When Jeong Jeong raised an eyebrow in confusion Aang continued: "I have to focus on the other elements before I move onto firebending, like you said, it takes restraint and knowledge of the other bending arts to safely fire bend as the Avatar."

Jeong Jeong nodded in agreement: "It was an honor during the time I did train you, I believe you will become an exceptionally powerful firebender one day."

Aang just smiled, but that smile quickly turned to a frown when he noticed the black smoke rising from down the river: "Fire Nation soldiers, we should probably get out of here." Aang said.

"No, that is likely my old student, he has finally come to face me, I will stay and fight him." Jeong Jeong calmly replied.

Aang shook his head in disagreement: "If you're staying, then I will too. Toph, Chey, go get Appa and bring him here. We'll likely have to make a quick escape after this fight."

Toph began to argue with him, but Chey quickly started pulling her towards where he knew Appa would be. Deep down, Toph even knew that she would be useless against something that stayed in the water, but she didn't want to admit it.

When the boats came into view, Aang quickly noticed that there was only five of them, and that Zhao was leading them: "Zhao was your old student?" Aang asked in shock.

Jeong Jeong frowned: "He was my final student, he did not know restraint like you know do, it makes him a weak fire bender, exploit that." With that, Jeong Jeong quickly ran into the woods, Aang was now alone, but he did take what Jeong Jeong said to heart. As Aang faced Zhao, he noticed that the older man was smiling towards him, he found this rather unsettling: "I've been chasing you all over the world, and fate has it that you come to me."

With this, Zhao jumped onto the shore and sent large blasts of fire at Aang. He used his airbending to dodge many of them, the ones he couldn't dodge, he just blew away.

"Stop dodging me and fight!" Zhao said while punching his fist out yet again. He was getting tired and Aang saw right threw his tough façade, he had bad form and was sloppy. _I only have to egg him on more so I can exploit a weak spot. _With his new battle plan, Aang went into action. He jumped onto Zhao's first ship, mocking him as he went. By the end of his tirade, Zhao had unknowingly destroyed all of his ships, once he did that, Aang finally faced him in an offensive stance. He shot his hands forward and sand shot out of the ground towards Zhao. He tried to avoid it but was swallowed up by the sheer force of the attack. When Zhao attempted to get back up, he found he was being held down by a strong gust of wind. Aang walked up to him and spoke: "You need to learn more restraint, it will be your downfall if you do not check yourself."

Zhao only laughed: "Why would I take advice from a child!"

"Because that "child" is correct Zhao." Jeong Jeong calmly stated.

Zhao smiled: "Ah. My old master, you finally decide to show up. You finally decide to face your tresson charges?"

"Not quite yet Zhao" Jeong Jeong said: "Aang, keep your training up."

With this, Appa landed close to where Aang was. Chey got off Appa and left with his master. Aang quickly hopped onto Appa and took off towards the North Pole again. When he got the directions straight, he made his way to the saddle where a very quiet Toph was at.

Aang took an uneasy breath: "So…"

Toph quickly held up her hand: "Yah, Yah, I know, you're sorry for burning me. I get it. But I told you so."

Aang was genuinely confused at Toph's attitude towards him: "So you're not mad?"

Toph rolled her eyes: "Just wait till I get off of Appa and onto solid ground, I'll get my payback. Other than that, I'm just gonna work you harder during earth bending practice."

Aang groaned at this, much to Toph's pleasure: "So were to next Twinkletoes?"

Glad that they were getting off of Toph inflicting pain on him, he brought out his map again: "Probably somewhere close to the Northern Airtemple. There are plenty of smaller, out of the way villages there. Plus, there are plenty of natural resources for us to scavenge through."

"As long as there is earth under my feet, I don't really care." Toph said.

Aang smiled at this, glad that she had decided to come along for his journey: "Thanks for not leaving Toph."

Toph look genuinely confused at this: "Why would a leave?"

Aang began to stammer at her question: "Well, I thought that since I burned you, you would have wanted to leave me."

Toph laughed: "It's gonna take a lot more than a few burns to get rid of me Aang, just don't do it again though."

"Don't worry, I won't" Aang said as he hoped back onto Appa's head and guided him further towards the setting sun.

**Katara and Sokka:**

When Sokka finally gained control of himself, he began to notice that his sister was talking to him: "What IS that!" Katara asked, almost afraid to know the answer.

Sokka's voice took a solemn tone: "It looks like just about the largest Fire Nation fleet that I've ever seen."

"Where do you think they are headed?" Katara asked.

"From the looks of it, they are probably coming from the Fire Nation. They probably need to refuel at a station before they head out again." Bato added.

"It looks like they are heading Northward though" Sokka mused.

"Oh no.." Katara began.

"What is it Katara?" Both Sokka and Bato said, worry clear in their voices. But before they got an answer, Katara was bolting onward towards their direction. Bato and Sokka quickly followed her.

"They're heading to the North Pole, they must have figured out that Aang is going there!" Katara nearly screamed.

Sokka immediately understood what she was assuming: "You don't thing that they would try to attack the North Pole? Do you? I mean it is a fortress up there.. Right Bato?"

Bato merely looked down: "I don't think the Fire Nation cares how large the Northern Water Tribe is, the Avatar will be there, they have the troops and ships to invade, and they don't plan on failing from the looks of it."

Most of the rest of the day was traveled in silence. No one worried about Aang more than Katara though: _At least I have a reason to go to the North Pole that Dad will believe now. _It was then that she came to the realization that her father would now not want to go anywhere near the North Pole. If the North was over run, then her tribe would lose all of its men as well.

The day went by uneventfully and they made it through the Serpents pass completely. Needless to say, everyone was glad that they could finally be done with the Serpant's Pass for good.

When they camped for the night, just about a day's walk from Hakoda, Sokka decided it was about time to talk to Katara: "So you ready to see Dad again?"

"I guess, I just am really nervous is all." Katara replied.

"Why are you nervous, he's just our Dad."

"It's not so much him, it's the conversation I have to have with him." Katara said.

"Listen, Katara. Do you think it's best to go to the North Pole while the Fire Nation is attacking it?" When Katara was about to protest, Sokka raised his hands for her to let him continue: "What I'm trying to say is: is it a good idea for YOU to go to the North Pole."

Katara was completely shocked at his question: "Why wouldn't I go to the North Pole! Someone needs to warn them of the attack, if we leave soon, we can get there a few days before the Fire Navy does! Plus Aang will be there and I need to see him!"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about Katara, your need to see Aang could endanger you Katara." Sokka firmly said.

"How could you say that?" Katara shot back.

Sokka just looked down: "I just am looking out for you is all."

Katara was about to yell at him more, but she was stopped by Bato: "Maybe we should let Hakoda be the decision maker. Okay guys?"

Sokka sighed: "Yah, let's all get some rest, we aren't camping again until we reach Dad."

Katara couldn't sleep that night though, she was saddened by the idea that she might not be able to travel to the North Pole. She needed to see Aang again. If her Dad didn't let her come, she would find another way to get to him. _I think I'm finally ready to face you Dad. _Katara thought, before she drifted off to sleep.

**I really hope you guys liked this chapter, I put tons of work into it. I am pretty drained from long days of college and lots of work, so getting this chapter out was a bit hard, so sorry for the time it took to get it out. I'll try to get another one out by the weekend though.**

**Onto the review responses!**

**P.S. I had a lot of guests that reviewed this time, so I will be going in order of the reviews, so if you were a guest who reviewed, just find out what numbered guest you were in reference to the reviews page. Or just read all of them cause you all are amazing! **

**AvatarCat13: I do read and love your story Kataang Island Adventure. I think I even have it favorited on my page, but if I don't I sure will very soon! Lol. As for the review on ch. 7, I really questioned on whether or not I should make Aang burn Toph or himself or both. But I thought it came out alright this chapter, though I'll let you make that determination for yourself. As for the Serpent, I really was tempted to bring it into the chapter, but I decided to save it for later **** Thanks for the compliments and I will do my best.**

**Gamlover41592: I don't really know what to say as I did not understand your review, if you could clear it up for my that would be great. But thanks for reviewing the chapter!**

**InfernoLeo9: Thanks for your opinion on the Authors Note, I was really shocked at how many of you reviewed on it. (People usually never actually read the A/N) But I will try to incorporate your ideas into the story. We will see if Katara makes it to the North Pole, but knowing her, it's almost a shoe-in. Thanks for the review again!**

**Guest 1 ch.5: Awh thanks! I love replying to all of my reviewers, it keeps me more intouch with them. Like I've said before, I would not be as motivated to write each of these chapters if it was not for you guys. And I don't take anything my reviewers say offensively, these reviews make me smile so don't worry about it. It just takes me a few days to get to push out another chapter. I love what I do so don't worry about offending me! I love you guys!**

**Guest 2 ch.5: I think you are the same person as the one above but I could be totally wrong. If so thanks for liking Toph. She is harder to write on than I thought she would be, but I think I'm getting the hang of her more and more each chapter. As for Katara, what do you like about her? Maybe I could do it some more?**

**FlameoInstantNoodles: You are an amazing reviewer! Haha, you always find a way to make me laugh more and more! I really do appreciate the compliment, but I don't think I'm that good at this writing thing. But I appreciate the amazing compliment regardless!**

**Guest Ch. 6: Assuming you are the same review? Could be wrong? But regardless, I LOVED YOUR REVIEW. You are awesome and so nice. I appreciate all the compliments, your review made me smile when I read it. I will be sure to add some of your ideas into the continuation of this story, I don't really like being constricted either, so I will be going a little outside of the cannon of the story, though I will include some parts of it cause it is good to have the ascense of the story still there. I will see what I can think of though, who knows, Aang might still be "alone" **

**Guest Ch. 6 #2: I just love cliff hangers, it keeps people wanting more! I really don't know if you are the same person or not lol. These guest reviews confuse me, yet I absolutely love them! Keep it coming!**

**Ok guys, so I'll get another chapter out probably this weekend, we are almost at the North Pole!**


	9. Family Matters

**Hey guys, I'm her with another chapter! This one took longer than I expected it to, though I can't complain because I think it came out pretty good, but I'll let you be the judge of that, enjoy and read and review! Also, check out AvatarCat13's Kataang Island Adventure story and CharlieFibrosis's Country Boy. Both great stories and definitely worth the reads!**

**Katara and Sokka:**

Though Sokka and Katara were both heading towards Charmelion Bay, both had different reasons for getting there. Sokka simply was ecstatic to see his father again. It had been years since he had even talked to him. _I wonder how much he's changed since I last saw him. _This any many other questions were happily floating though Sokka's mind. Katara on the other hand, was a completely different story.

The complexity of the emotions that she was feeling at the moment was hard for her to decipher. As time grew since she was apart from Aang, she knew she was slowly losing her sanity. She knew she was crazy to think that she had become so dependent on a boy that she had met less than 5 months ago, but she had. He had become an integral part of his life and she was a fool to let him go. What made her feel worse was that she valued seeing Aang more than she did her own father. Sokka had viewed finding Hakoda as the end of their journey, but Katara saw her father as a means to an end. She needed him to get to Aang, and she felt terrible for thinking that way.

Sokka had said that they would reach their destination by nightfall and they had. As the trio climbed over the last hill, Sokka spotted camp fires off in the distance: "That's got to be dad!" Sokka said excitedly. The trio picked up there pace towards the encampment. When they reached the edge of camp, they were immediately met by very shocked, but very familiar faces. Hugs and fore-arm shacks were passed around, but Katara was focused on her goal: "Do any of you know where my father is." One of the warriors spoke up, he's in the large tent over there." He said as he motioned ahead. Katara quickly strode towards what she assumed was the meeting tent. _I would probably get in trouble for this if I was back at the South Pole _she mused.

As she opened the flaps of the tent, she was met by the dumbfounded face of her father. Sokka quickly followed her into the tent and spoke with tears in his eyes: "Dad"

Hakoda quickly stood and embraced his children whom he hadn't seen in years: "How did you two get all the way into the Earth Kingdom?" He said with tears forming in his eyes.

Sokka smiled at this: "We have been traveling with the Avatar."

Hakoda spoke up at this: "Is he with you now?" He sincerely asked, wiping the tears off his face and replacing it with a bright smile.

Katara looked down: "There was a misunderstanding between us. We shouldn't have separated."

Hakoda nodded: "Well I appreciate him bringing my children to me safely. If we ever meet him again, I will thank him myself."

Katara knew that this was her opportunity to broach the topic so she took the chance: "Well dad, actually, we know where he is going and I wanted to meet up with him?"

Hakoda looked confused for a moment, but then understanding dawned on him: "And you need me to get you there…"

"It's not like that! I mean, maybe…" Katara fumbled.

Hakoda knowingly smiled: "Where will the Avatar be going?"

Sokka spoke up: "To the North Pole."

"You don't really expect to travel half way across the world to meet up with him, do you?" Hakoda seriously asked.

He quickly got an answer with the look of determination that was plastered on his daughter's face: "Yes, yes I do. I'll find a way to get up there with or without your help!"

Hakoda deeply sighed: "We've been holding this bay for a long time because it's important for Earth Kingdom trade and it also leads straight up to Ba Sing Se. We can't just leave it Katara."

"What if I told you that the Northern Water Tribe needs you." Katara asked.

"How so?"

Sokka took this moment to inject himself into the conversation: "We noticed a large Fire Navy fleet heading northward. We assume they'll dock for supplies and fuel, and then head up to the Northern Water Tribe to invade."

"After 100 years, why attack now?" Hakoda asked.

"Because they knew Aang will be there" Katara said.

"Aang?" Hakoda questioned.

"The Avatar dad, his name is Aang." Sokka deadpanned.

"I'll have to talk with the other men; the North Pole is a long ways away from home." Hakoda said.

Both Sokka and Katara nodded in agreement and left the tent to set up their own towards the front of the camp. Early the next morning, Hakoda called for all of the men of the tribe to gather around the large meeting tent. When they had all gathered, he spoke: "Many years ago, I called upon the men of this tribe to fight a war, a war that has great affected and changed the dynamic of the Southern Water Tribe. The Fire Nation took our benders, with it, much of our culture. My son and daughter have travelled from far away to inform me of the Fire Nation's plans. They have been travelling with the Avatar and know he plans on learning water bending from the Northern Water Tribe. The Fire Nation also knows of his plans and are heading northward to attack our sister tribe! We are caught between our loyalties men! To our sister tribe and the earth kingdom, I leave the decision to leave or to go up to you all!"

When he finished, there was murmurings amongst the men of the tribe: "Do not make this decision lightly, take the day to make the choice. Those who are with me will leave by dawn tomorrow morning." Many of the men gave nods of affirmation towards him. He smiled to those who did and turned to his children: "This is all I can do; we have to wait for their answer now."

Katara resigned herself to some of the chores that she had done when she was back in her tribe, washing the close for the men. In a strange way, it connected her with her past, a past that she knew she wouldn't be able to go back to now that she had seen the world. _Time changes people,_ Katara mused. She recalled something that Gran Gran had said to her and Sokka before they had left to save Aang: "Your connection with Aang is strong, you met for a reason, and now your destinies are intertwined." _I wonder if what Aunt Wu and what Gran Gran said connect in some way? _Katara shook her head to clear her thoughts; first she would have to make it to the North Pole.

Though much of the morning was leisurely, when the afternoon came, many of the men appeared to be preparing for something: "What's going on?" Katara asked her brother as she quickly walked up to him. His confused look made her believe that he was just as much in the dark about the situation as she was.

They both silently made their way over to their father's tent, wanting answers. When they opened the flap, they were met with Hakoda dressing in his warrior garbs. "What's going on dad?" Sokka asked, worry clearly in his voice.

"Some of our scouts noticed a small fleet of Fire Navy ships coming in this direction; we are going to do what we can to stop them from entering this river." Hakoda firmly said, while tying the last piece of armor on himself.

He quickly left his tent, his children in tow towards his warriors to which he started barking orders out to: "Get these bombs in the water and pack up this camp as quickly as possible, we don't want them to notice us till it's too late!" With the orders given, the men quickly hid the camp and dispersed into the foliage just past the beach, there, they would be completely hidden from the passing Fire Navy ships.

"What now dad?" Katara said as she crouched next to her father.

"We wait; the mines will do the rest." Hakoda said simply.

Katara was skeptical at first, but she soon changed her mind once she saw the damaging effects of the mines. Once one made contact with a ship, it exploded violently, causing a rupture in the hull. In Under five minutes, the offending convoy was quickly sinking, it's crew trying to escape onto land. While the Fire Nation soldiers were still disoriented, Hakoda gave the orders for his men to attack.

The confusion nearly tripled when the Fire Nation soldiers found themselves being attacked from all sides. When Katara began to run out to fight, she was swiftly pulled back by her brother: "What are you doing Sokka?"

Sokka looked down: "Dad told me to keep you safe while he fought with the other men."

Katara thought that this was the most preposterous thing she had ever heard: "But you're old enough to be a warrior!"

"I'm not the issue Katara; dad gave me orders, as a warrior, to protect YOU!" Sokka said firmly.

Katara was not going to let herself be stopped by Sokka though. She quickly shrugged his hand off her shoulder and began to take off into the fray: "Katara!" Sokka said while running in after her: "Why couldn't dad just have had 2 boys?"

Katara found a Fire Nation soldier and sent a small stream of water towards him, knocking him off his feet. Though Katara wasn't a Master Waterbender, she could still defend herself. While she was lost in her thoughts, giving herself a pat on the back, she was struck by a small wave of flames. Instinctively, she put her hands up to protect herself, but that proved to be a mistake. As Katara was knocked back, she immediately was met with searing pain in her palms of her hands, which was than further multiplied when she came crashing to the sand.

"Katara!" Sokka screamed as he wildly threw his boomerang at the attacker who had injured Katara. He barely even bothered to check if he boomerang had made contact with the man. He came sliding over to Katara's side. Katara was in a small ball, clenching her arms to her body and crying hard. By this time, many of the Fire Nation men were either killed or were retreating back to the base further up the coast.

Hakoda was smiling and congratulating his men until he heard his daughter crying. The blood immediately drained from his face as he ran in the direction of the noise. When he laid eyes on the position of his daughter, as well as Sokka's face, he knew that it couldn't be good. When he got to his daughter's side, he immediately noticed the burns on her hands. "I'm sorry dad, I tried to protect her, but she got away from me. She tried to defend herself against a soldier but was burned when she was distracted."

Hakoda didn't bother to reply to his son, he was focused on his daughter. "Someone, get some fresh cold water and some bandages!" Immediately, many of his men followed the orders. Hakoda knew what burns could do to someone if they weren't taken care of quickly enough. Bato was only one of the many testaments to the pain and suffering that burns could cause someone if left unattended to.

Katara had never experience such pain in her life before. It was like she was in a daze, or a dreamlike state. She could barely remember what had happened; only that she was on the ground, and in pain.

She was thankful when she felt coolness on her hands; it took the edge off of the pain she was experiencing. Within seconds she blacked out.

**Aang and Toph:**

After their run in with Zhao and Aang's "failed" attempt to learn fire bending, they had both decided that it was no longer safe to travel within Fire Nation colonial waters. In making this decision, Aang guided Appa further out to see, stopping at whatever stranded island that they could find. Jeong Jeong had been kind enough to furtively pack many provisions onto Appa, which they had been very grateful for. Those provisions allowed them to stay away from the larger villages and avoid preying eyes that might sell their location or direction to the Fire Nation. _That was likely how they had been able to constantly find us. _Aang had mused earlier during the day.

Right now, it was beginning to get dark, Appa was tired, and Aang had not yet found an island. "Sorry buddy, if we don't find an island soon, we might have to fly through the night." Appa grunted in protest: "I know buddy, but I'll stay up with you."

"You can stay up, but I'm going to sleep" Toph said as she rolled over in the saddle.

As time passed on, it got darker and harder to see anything as it was not a full moon any longer. Aang silently guided Appa Northwards, both he and Toph had decided that they would head straight to the North Pole from the Fire Nation colony to avoid any further dangerous situations. Though Toph could not see at the North Pole, they had little choice and Toph did not, by anyway, want to go home so she by default decided to tag along for the ride.

As Aang lay awake, encouraging his bison onward, he had time to think and meditate: _I wonder how much longer it will take to get to the North Pole? I wonder how Sokka and Katara are doing, hopefully they have met up with their father by now.. _Aang did consequently still miss them, but the sting of abandonment had long ago left him, it was replaced by understanding and regret for what he had done. _When this war is over, I'll make a trip down to the South Pole to apologize to them._ Another voice inside his head continued to tell him that there was no point, they had made their decision, but Aang would have none of that. He knew that he had hurt them, but he desperately wanted to still be friends with them, but if they did not want that from them, he would leave and never return.

At was at this point that Aang had snapped out of his thoughts, right after his bison splashed into the icy water, too tired to continue. Toph quickly had woken up: "Oh great, now we have to swim to the North Pole!"

Aang rolled his eyes and took out his map again, though he could barely see anything, he could just make out the lines that separated Earth Kingdom waters from Northern Waters. They were definitely close to the Northern Water Tribe, he just had no idea where he exactly was. He quickly turned towards Toph and reassured her: "Calm down Toph, we'll get there in a few days, I promise!"

After this short argument, both Toph and Aang slept fitfully as the ride was cold and slow. By the morning, both Toph and Aang were freezing beyond belief: "If we don't make it their soon Twinkletoes, we're gonna freeze to death!"

Just in that moment, a large ice column came up from the ocean and latched itself onto Appa, who had no fight left in him to try and free himself. "What's happening?!" Toph screamed.

Aang stood up in an airbending stance, ready to fight: "We're under attack!"

When Aang was about to fight back, he noticed the large number of Water Tribe symbols on the sides of the canoes. It was then that he knew that they had made it to the Northern Water Tribe.

**I know, this chapter is shorter than my previous ones, but I think I might be coming down with something and school is pouring work on. I'm glad that you guys loved my last chapter and I hope you like this one just as much. Now I know a lot of people will ask, why didn't you include the Northern Air Temple?! To answer that, I'm just gonna say that I had a better place to inject that into my story, so don't worry, it will be in the story, just not quite yet. **** Now onto the review responses!**

**AvatarCat13: I knew I needed someone close to Aang to get burned, otherwise he wouldn't have learned restraint. As for Hakoda meeting up with Katara and Sokka, I hope it turned out ok, that part took the longest to write for me as I kept changing it and starting over lol. Thank you for the compliments as always, BTW: I really like the last chapter of Kataang Island Adventure and will likely review it later on, (I just haven't had the time as of late to review stories I like as I try to put a decent amount of thought into what I say.)**

**FlameoInstantNoodles: You're still making me laugh with every review you post for my story. In a more serious note, I don't try and judge myself, but I like to try and better myself through pointing out my on errors, if that makes sense? And I know I should let you guys as my reviewers be the judge of my writing abilities, I will try harder to do so. Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, I started this chapter but did not have time to finish it due to other pressing issues coming up. As always, thanks for the praise and compliments and keep those reviews coming!**

**Amazing Guest: I'm just gonna give you that name now, so you know who you are for sure mystery guest. Lol I do really appreciate all the reviews you posted and all the praise that came along with them. Now onto your actual review! I love Katara as well, she shows what a real woman is, strong, yet emotional and caring at the same time. Even though I'm a guy, more men should strive to show the amount of emotion and self-sacrifice that she displays through the series. I always thought her as the leader and the mature one throughout the series and that transmits into my story as well. I did consciously decided to make Aang grow up a little bit, but he can be an immature goofball if he wants still. But you'll see his grown up leadership qualities in a few chapters. **

**Thanks for all the review guys for this chapter, keep them coming! The next chapter might take a little while to get out though, so keep your eyes open for it!**


	10. Katara's Strength

**Hey guys, I know this is only a small conversation between Sokka and Katara, but it was the best I could put out. I've been incredibly busy as of late with papers and test and projects for college. My professors have decided to kick it into another gear till spring break. I'll try and get another chapter out eventually, but until spring break, this is the best I could muster. Thanks again for all the committed readers and reviewers that I have, your comments will be at the bottom as always. I've been soooo tired as of late and hope that you can all understand and bear with me for now.**

**Katara:**

Katara awoke with blurred eyes. Though she could not fully see where she was, she did feel herself rocking back and forth. It was at this point that she sat up. "Where am I" she said to no one in particular.

"You're awake!" Sokka excitedly said from the corner of the room.

Katara soon felt Sokka crash into her upright body with a colossal hug. She felt like she wanted to throw up but she held it in for the benefit of Sokka. "Where am I" Katara asked again.

Sokka stupidly smiled at her, happy that she was awake: "Well we're on Dad's boat"

Katara looked confused, the last she remembered was fighting Fire Nation soldiers, then… She couldn't remember much after that and that bothered her greatly: "I understand that we're on his ship, but how did we get here, how long was I out, where are we going?"

Sokka raised his hands in mock defeat: "One question at a time Katara! To answer one of your questions, we are heading towards the Northern Water Tribe."

Katara smiled at this, happy that she would get to see Aang soon enough: "So Dad changed his mind?"

Sokka looked down for a moment: "He didn't have much choice, we left half the fleet at Chameleon bay to hold it while we are gone. If the attack to the North is going to happen like I think it will, we need to be ready for it."

"You said that he had little choice but to go North. Why?" Katara asked, beginning to feel the numbness run through her body. She finally noticed her hands were wrapped in white cloth, preventing her from moving them or using them.

Sokka looked down at her hands: "How much do you remember about the battle we had with the Fire Nation ships?" Sokka asked.

Katara didn't answer for a few moments, trying to remember as much as she could, but still, she could barely remember it at all: "Well, I remember you trying to prevent me from helping, but of course I didn't listen to you… I remember fighting off a few Fire Navy soldiers, but then it all goes blank after that."

Sokka relaxed and spoke: "Well Katara, a soldier that you took down attacked you when your back was turned. When you turned around to fight him off, it was too late… So you put your hands up to block the blast and…."

Katara's heart dropped to her stomach, panic immediately set in: "What's wrong with my hands! Why can't I feel them!" She said as she desperately tried to free her hands from the tightened bandages.

Seeing this, Sokka tried to hold her down, preventing her from taking the bandages off: "Katara! Stop! Those are meant to help you heal, or at least keep the infection off until we get to the North Pole. You need healers! If you have to know, the reason Dad is heading North, is because your hands are pretty bad off and we can't take care of you on our own…"

"And what if we don't make it North in time?" Katara fearfully asked.

Sokka somber mood only deepened: "Let's not think about the if's, we are getting you to the North Pole in time. You just need your rest. So promise me you won't try and take the bandages off, you need your sleep and those bandages need to do their work."

Katara frowned at this, not liking to be sitting around doing nothing for very long: "Fine, but once I'm not so tired, I'm getting out of this room."

Sokka smiled at this: "I wouldn't expect any differently little sis."

**Hey guys, hoped you liked this small conversation between Sokka and Katara, the tension is building for the North Pole. Next chapter will go a little more in depth about Katara's emotional experience through this as well as Hakoda's. Plus, as an added bonus, Aang's gonna start his training next chapter! Haha. Onto the review replies!**

**AvatarCat13: They will reunite soon, within the next few chapters I hope. Depends where my inspiration takes me. I have not sadly been keeping up with your story as of late, but hope to catch up once I have more relaxation time. **

**Gamelover41592: I thought the last chapter was a good one, perfect length and a great cliff hanger at the end.**

**Guest: The name came to me at just about the same time that this idea came. It was actually pretty funny, I was thinking that this story was gonna die as a short one shot, but the popularity and sheer number of positive reviews changed my mind pretty quickly. Hope you like the result.**

**Malgar: It was funny, I had not been on fanfiction to check on this story for the longest time, but when I did, I saw this review and it really pushed me to get something out for my readers, even if it was a short conversation. I just haven't had a lot of free time as of late, but I hope you enjoy it regardless, just know that I saw your review and decided that I needed to get a chapter out ASAP.**


	11. Aang's Musings

**Hey guys! I know I haven't updated in what seems like an eternity, but I've been struggling with college a lot lately. Things have piled up and my interest sorta died for writing this ALTA fic. I know I promised that I would finish this story, and honestly I might pick it back up if I get the drive to, but for now I'm gonna have to halt the writing process for this story till at least may (When I finish my college semester). I thought I would write somewhat of a closing paragraph for Aang and his thoughts and musings of reaching the Water Tribe finally. I know there are tons of loose ends to tie up which I want to do (Aang meeting up with Katara and Sokka, Katara's injury, Hakoda, etc.). I wanted to also thank all of my followers, reviewers, favoriters, and readers for liking my story so much! I never thought it would become this popular, but sadly as of now I'm gonna step back from this but fear not! I will maybe definitely return! **

Aang fought to contain the emotions that had been boiling up inside him since he had first caught a glimpse of the massive Northern Water Tribe wall. He remembered his old Master had often spoke of the beauty of the Northern Tribe, but this… this was something else. The wall was massive and appeared to be equally thick. It was hard to tell from the distance that he was away from the wall, but it appeared to have a large Water Tribe symbol carved on the outside.

Aang knew that it would still be quite some time till he reached the wall as Appa was exhausted from the long trip. Toph had been complaining for days about the lack of earth surrounding her body at all times, but she had seemed to quiet down since they had found the Water Tribe warriors. This rare moment of silence seemed too tempting for Aang to pass up on, so he let his mind wander ever so slightly.

In his thoughts, one prevailing fact came up time and time again, Aang was surprised that he had actually reached the Northern Water Tribe in one piece. After Katara and Sokka had separated from him, he felt hopeless and alone, like there was really no point to even making the trip. But he had found hope in other friends, Aang mused as he glanced at a shivering Toph.

Aang had changed so much from the helpless boy that Katara and Sokka had found in the iceberg. Now he was confident and stronger, Toph had made sure of that.

There were times along his journey that he had missed his old friends, if he were to be honest with himself, he still missed them. But he resigned in himself that he was actually happy that they decided not to continue with him. The trip north was a dangerous one for him and he did not want to risk either of their lives. Aang would have never forgiven himself if he let anything happen to them.

It was in that moment that a realization hit him like a ton of bricks; his journey was honestly far from over. He needed to defeat the Fire Lord. The Northern Water Tribe was just a stepping stone for him.

As he reached the grand walls of the Northern Water Tribe, he came to the conclusion that everything happens for a reason, the Alone Times in your life are never what they appear to be. Loneliness can be characterized as a state of mind that you allow yourself to enter and with-hold yourself from leaving. You alone have the power to break free of the perpetual sadness that covers yourself in times of loss. In the Alone Times, you grow into the person you're meant to be.


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